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A NE WSFIEL O PUBL ICA 7 ION 

No.15 January 1987 




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ant ugh 

ring f with 

OBBY BEARING 

DEIDOLON, 
DRUID and GLIDER RIDER 



OVER £700 



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PRIZES UP FOR GRABS! 



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CASSETTE 



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CASSETTE 



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£9-95 14-95 £9-95 14-95 



ISSUE 15 JANUARY 1987 




Francs Ffiy 



ttmJtrn 

OrtShmef 

1 Director Gordon Dnxt 
Oliver Frey, tan 
Fto&Siesf 



OmmBmmm 

CMMfBUr 



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MERRY MAIN HEADINGS 

7 EDITORIAL 

Full of Christmas spirit {Burp 1 ) Matey pulls on his 
l Santa outfit to give you a seasonal welcome, 

, 9 ON THE SPOT 

With tips on how to make th* beat Christmas pijd 
I — Saffron's back! 

NMHMi 

New man on the |ob, Rob Steel, takes a look at 
BUGSY and THE ARCHERS, 

SB RESULTS 

Waffle waffle, moan, winners.oppressed minion! 

'* BBumn 

Tony s back with another selection of POKES to 
i POKE your garnes In places they never knew they 
had! 

90AMTECH 

Fed up with POKE ing hie Amslrad Tony now starts 
plugging things into the beck of It! 

CHARTS 

• Ye! another job for the inferior minion. 

. 109 SAFFRONS CHRISTMAS SCOREBOARD 

wmo , slti#b*»t«rtth#r«ittMlg*meft-'fTndout. , . 

111 THE USER CLUB NEWS 

Malcolm Harding steels two pages for listings. 



AMTWt COMPETITIONS GALORE 

M LATERAL TMNWHE IWE 

Your chance to win the complete AMTlX* outfit. 

38 THE F I R E LORD YOUTH EUXIR 

Win a Sony Walkman courtesy of Bewsone* 

40 THE FANTASTIC NfCEMTTVE COMP 

Win a hot or cold holiday? 

47 THE GREAT PIRANHA SHOOT OUT 

Your chance to shoot an AJaTIX! staff person! 

46 PANDORA'S 801 COMPETITION 

Your chance to tackle an army nuu H course! 

S3 JUMP TO TOUR KOWX JOYSTICK 



Win a disk drive, a printer and e jo/stic k . 

57 GREMLIN'S GREAT MUSICAL COMPETITION 

Win a complete compact disc hi fi system! 

59 THE GREAT AJUOLASOFT EKTRAVAGAIUA 

Win record album*, books, T Shirts, names.. 

65 FL TING HIGH WITH DURELL 

Win h r^ictiu controlled me do I aeroplane. 

W ELITES BRILLIANT DOUBLE COMP 

Win a BMX bike or a personal cassette player. 

96 THE FRENCH CONNECTION INFOGRAMES COMP 

Vour chnncp to wm ,i hohcliiv lor two in Paris. 



102 DONT BE CAUGHT KAT NAPPING 

Vour chance to wm a super model FLIPOOTf 

, 04 WW A COMPUTE WARDROBE Of CLOTHES 

Your chance la forget about washday bfuM 



Cow by Oliver Frey 



MERRY CHRISTMAS ACCOLADES 

22 HEARTLAND 

Go on a magical graphical as arch ol the mystery 
book with Odin' a latest hrt 

26 ram 

A French offering from UBi Soft — experience Hie 
nor mtic! 

134 THANATOS THE DESTROY!* 

Fancy a bit of peasant frying then Dure!! 1 * latest 
game is just for you, 

13* ROBOT BEARING 

Bob says ' Bait bearings 1 to the rest of the games 

— this is the ultimate m roH around games 



FABULOUS FESTIVE FEATURES 

41 THE GREAT NEWSRELU CHALLENGE 

The biggest challenge ever! To sort the ^oumuHeiB 

from the games players, 

49 THE AMTIIE READERS AWARDS 

Who do you think was most deserved of an ewerd 
in 1 986 — here's your chance to vote for the beet, 

94 MQION'S MONSTER 

Can a computer be programmed to kill? Find out 
in this special Chnstmas short story, 

62 SQ YOU WANNA BE A 

Richard Eddy introduces you to Keith Proeser ol 

Firelord fame. 

94 BfTES, BIRTHDAYS AND BITS 

In which fiicfcy ends up in a crypt , Male has some 

cak* and people do things with computers. 

98 INSIDE AMTIXf TOWERS 

The truth! H* s out! This is what realty goes on Inside 
the greet black doors. 



Minion gives you th* complete Index to gemee 
from issue one to now. 

113 FLASHBACK! 

Richard and Malcolm give you the low down on a* 
the major events that rocked the Amstrad scene 
in 1006. 

1 42 STOCnNG FIXERS 

Previews of all the Christmas games that you Just 
might find in your stockings! 

14* THE HOTLINE 

The Hotline crew have been monitoring the 
switchboard, just take a look at what they came up 
with, 



Eat, dnnk and be merry— but don't forget to pick 
up the February issue of AMTlK! at a newsagents 
near you from 8th January. 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 3 






A **ti 




Hlit 



8 **»*, 




Jetpac 

Nightshades 
® 



Knightlore 
SabreWulf 



Jetpac 
Tranzam 



LunarJetman 
Pssst 




Alien 8 
Gunfriqht 



Knightlore 
Nightshades 



- > kl 



AticAtac 
Sabre Wolf 

® 



(Jnderwurlde 
Alien 6 



Tigers in the Snow Combat Leader] 
Germany 1985 Knights of thej 
<g) Desert 



Entombed Staff of Karnat h 



Blackwyche 



Imhotep 




Sabre Wulf 

c£799 



AJienS 
Nightshades 







FacMan 
Dug Dug 

® 



MjvDo! 
Pole Position 



Fight_Night 
Stellar 7 

® 



Forbidden Forest 
Talladega 



PacMan 
Dug Dug 



MrDof 

Pole Position 



AU 



cassette 



&.99 



**"*"■>**** 



'^ifru/f 



Aftjcaj 




Kermit 
Donald Duck 

® 



Return to Oz 
Congo Bongo 





At a time when you're being showered with cut price bargains, amazing value packs or stunning compilations 
(of games you've never heard of?), then it's hard to work out what is a good buy and what isn't. Cast off the 
confusion and look no more, for here we present a range of compilations of games that are classics in their 
own right, or have established pedigrees which guarantee their quality. 
Here we have compiled a series of products which stand as the master of any of its rivals. 




DTO Bion* 

(6>® 



Blue 






I 







QpnOown 

© 



TapV* 1 



I B U **o° Bol H 

|SuanS eU S 





Xotto 



Oambus^ 
***** 



Xofl° 

© 



Ghost*** 



Stca^ 

(Si 






lorro 
B nice U* 



AW***" 



Bluet U* 
Zort° 

® 






# (fatuously ymtHpHQ 



IV Gold, I nili 2 :i Ifclf.inl Hay, Hotfoni, rUnnlEi*hui ftfi 7* * M 021 






GAMES AT THE 



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SPEED OF LIGHT. 






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LIGHTFORCE is for VENGEANCE 

LIGHTFORCE is the Punishment Arm of 
Galactic Fighter Command. 
When a Terxan-settled system at the edge of 
the galaxy is seized by an alien force .revenge 
comes in the form of a lone 
LIGHTFORCE fighter. 
LIGHTFORCE confronts alien in a dazzling 
battle above the strange landscapes of the 
Ice Planet, the Jungle Planet r Ahen factories 
and the impassable Asteroid Belt. # 
LIGHTFORCE — at the speed of Light 
■ from FT\* 



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sac 



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■^^^■^ F *~ -*.' I ^^^^T^H»^ .^-a\ \_l 






SHOCK WAY RIDERS are Ae pick of the 
street gangs ATHLETIC, AGGRESSIVE & 
ARROGANT -ms they cruise along the 
laplespeed moving walkways that circle 
the great MEGACITYSof Ihe 2 is! Century. 
THE ULTIMATE AIM OF EVERY RIDER 
is logo ip FULL CIRCLE" - to do that r he must 
fight off the Block Boys.the Cops and the 
Vigilantes - as we I 1 as negotiating the Speed 
Traps and Rid*; Ramps erected by the angry 

local residents' 

SHOCK WAY RIDER ls the most original 

arcade gamfi of the yvr - 



THE ULTIMATE FUTURE S 



HOCK!! 






Ef* 




fc« 



£££ 



UC 



M 



LIGHTFORCE AVAILABLE SEPT. '86 * 






SPECTRUM £7.95 
AMSTRAD& COMMODORE £8 95 



J T> 



USTEtt 'THAN *L1GHT ftl faster than light, carter follis group of companies. 

-i SEDGLEY ROAD EAST TIPTON WEST MIDLANDS DY4 7UJ Tel 021 557 2981 (4 bm) 




SEASONAL GREETINGS 
FROM THE TEAM jf> 



Well here N is. rhe biggest, and In 
the team's view, ihe besi ever 
copy of AMT1X 1 foe your festive 
deirghi We have a record number 
of reviews m this issue, deluding 
four almighty accolades, Hoart- 
lafidt 2omfi4. Bobby Bearing, and 
Th#n#to$ and a speoal moga sec 
ton of Previews 

It's hard .o believe that A is 
aJmwf \2 merffha §i«a I jsiwd 
AMT1X 1 as jornt edrtot with Jeremy 
Spacer Snceihen a lot has hap- 
pened end there nave been Quite 
e lot of changes baih m the organi- 
sation and staffing at the Towers? 
I've k>st Big J, Robin Candy and 
Lee Paddon but gained Richard 
Eddy, Massimo VakJuca. and 
T, jrv Clartoa I've ite pirltil 
Graeme Kidd as my publishing 
executive Together we have 

developed and revitalised the 
magazine to rta present very high 
state of the art. 

As you read thta Christmas is 
only a few weeks away yet we are 
already well advanced with the 
February cover tssue. Publishing 
magazines is a strange bu&mett 
to the process induces a type of 
lime distortion, wnicn can be Quite 
drff Kxrft to cope with, You tend to 
lose tree* of the day, and even the 
week on occasions' 

On the games front software 
companies app e a r to have been 
disappointed with sales overall yet 
there have been more than a fair 
share 01 ex c ellent games dunng 
me course of 1§B§ and, of course. 
AMTDU has always endeavoured 
to be the first to review them! In 
1967 we intend to become the 
NUM8ER 1 MAGAZINE for 
Amsfrad Software Reviews. 

So its lime to wish aN our read- 
ers a Merry Christmas and a 
Happy AMTIX 1 New rear It's also 
time to offer thanks to the people 
who have made everything possi- 
ble. Big thanks must go to 

* P 




Amstrad for bringing out the 
PCW8256 They appear to have 
bred like rabbits in AMTEX' Towers, 
which is just as well, as almost 
every word m this magazine starts 
oft Us life on dear Joyce. Thanks 
must also go to my teem, and to 
everyone else wrltm the NewjfiekJ 
organisation who ensure the 
maga2ine tor** ao good at the end 
Offfieday 




We must ait Say a btg thank you 
to our readers who have continued 
to put iner naraa m tnw poewta 
thereby providing the means by 
which we are able to eke out an 
existence between issues. Slay 
with the new toofc AMTIX', keep 
feeding us, and we will k«*p writ- 
ing. (Unless we have a nervous 
breakdown first -RE) 

Finally if you want to see the 
whole team in person come along 
to the Novotei m London's Ham- 
mersmith tor the next Amstrad 
Show between January 9 and 1 1 




»pv wor** ro Ho* 







Avenger Gremlin Graphics 1 25 
Sack To Reality 

Masiertronic IS, 

B+acf. Head II US Gold 117 
Bobby Bearing 

The Edge 136.139 

C rty Slicker HewsortS 1 22 

F j re lord Hewsons 1 5 
Future Knight 

Gremlin Graphics 12G 

Heartland Odm 22, » 

laOMastertranic 129 

Icon Jon Mirrorsoft 123 

InflfraterUSGold 1» 

Jungle Jane Bug Byte 1 31 

Kettte Nbgata 127 

MGTAclrvision IB 



Noaienrtu Piranfia 11a 

ObaWian Americana 130 

One .nfooramao 29 

Pipeline Mastartronk: 130 

Prodigy Electric Praams 33 

Sepulcrf Reactor 28 
Terra Cognrta 

Code Masters 129 
Thenetoe Duel i Mp 13S 

* ■•■y vivn « Hmmm 

39 Steps 118 

Ttrn« Tra* Argus Press 24 

Vlrfltn ADanVcCfMtono* 

Virgin 124 

WwwAnolsNli 137 

Xarq Electric Dreams 133 

Zflmo 21 

Zombi UBI »,27 



128 



132 
141 
110 



AMTIX! Beck Numbers 
AMTIX! Birwlera/T ■ Shirts 
AMTIX! Mail Order 
AMTIX! Poster* 
AMTIX! Retailers 
AMTIX! Subscription Offer 

66.67 
Argus Prass 6 

Artotasoft 73 

Creative Oevieee 17 

Datec 68 

Dured 36.37 

Euromax 66 



Qar yo yla Q am ss (FiV) Q 

Gremlin Graphics 

18, 1*. 30, 31 

1339 

51 

76 

147 

103 

32 

32 



KofWTli 



Mtkro'Oan 

•Trflrpge 

Mosaic 
Mr Chip 
Ocean 
Palace 
Softek 
US Gold 



2.107,146 

26 

64.82 

4, 5, 120. 121 



AMTIX Christmas Spec lal 1 986 7 






v 



_r 






fcffi 



a: 



os> 



f ictory House 
14 Leicester Place 
LONDON 

'C2H7ND 



£8.95 
Spectrum 

CBM 

Amstrad 




1 m \ 



By the year 2056 Star Wars Defenc? 
Command was operational. Satellites 
patrolled and control 1l the skies. At 
precisely 1934 the At it Force took 
over the entire defence system and 
turned it into a deadly weapon. 

Daring Captain Nick Diamond must 
enter the danger zone, smash through 
aliens and destroy the satellites over 
earths major cities. Can he do it 
in time? KJ 

It's fast it's tough, it's smoc'h, it's 
ngerous. Do you make the grade? 




THE CHRISTMAS LETTER OF THE MONTH WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? 



Dear Saffron 

The magazine has improved 
enormously since issue 10, theiasi 
of the 'ow style' which always 
gave me the impression that the 
writers ritdn'1 like writing if But 
there are still a few little ir^p rove- 
Ms met could be Bone. 

Since, lor cost reasons, tt would 
be i mposs>hie to have every review 
<n colour why not have two pages 
in ccrfour each issue cover eo to 
photos of the best erf the games 
thai got monochrome jatf*H 

Why not pub'':-*- a photo 
Lloyd Mangram^ Yak could be \X* 
Cameron to itsk ■ *rfe for a shot 
erf fr^mos* came ' hy nan since 
'Camon' (Rhoda) end 'Qm^s 
Artels. 

I must agree with Marx Hooper 
and Christopher Wocrton <QT£ ,** 
1 3), Jn pleading for Ob to do a touch 
up on the new logo, its nearly as 
bedasZZAPS- 

Why do you bother to continue 
supporting PCWi There are now 
two tat ieasrj PCW onry magazines 
and « doubt if many PCW Readers 
worn happy with the very small 



in the | 



amount of coverage 
November issue. 

Why don'i you and AA arrange 
(or your magazines to come out 
two weeks apart like they did 
before, I am sure that then more 
people would {like me 1 } buy both' 
(but doni worry I much prefer t 
AMTIX 1 rick lock)). Thus meaning^* 
more gU (Dki old crumbry'a 
t flgp%l uplhere?) 

Sfn'uakffigtf 
v mj prinled y&ur Jan- June 
' jurnV Ornish have putrid nad 
theirs* Wouiui b $\\ m quesailfl 
25,000? ^ 

Why uon'i you have a goaaip 
column? Odyr-iJ know that Sean 1 
is- Irish for 'oir 

A: a yOwfored yet? Thought so, 
but I'm r s .lie finished. 

T<- ,A*-f Michael Tseng's let- 
ter of the month is issue 13. 1 think 
the excessive price of software in 
Ireland rs not just due lo Tax and 
the difference m exchange rates 
but also because both the BrFtish 
and Irish dfthbutors each take a 
Cut whereas in Bntai n there is only 
one distributor Also there is no set 



price for software in Ireland, retail- 
ers iusl Charge what they want. 

Why -.'ii Pau n think it's Paul 
Sumr 'h, is rl) who does an opinion 
■"Xi son ms of the reviews mentioned 
on the credos next to the index 
You seem to nvnirnn everyone 
e»»pt him. 

Welt that s all I'm afraid (you d 
better oiini this, n ■»■ 

Our ol friy We (that's approxl to 

te th*. 3 amtg»#am r 4/ 1 Q/BG}. 
*BM p 3 pound 
Mark Kanne^lly. Dunganran, 
County Waterford, Republic of 
Ireland. 

To start with r your suggestion 
of having all colour picture of 
reviews on a double page 
doesn't make any difference — 
whtrt costs the money is having 
the separations clone when the 
colour photo has been taken* mo 
ft wouldn't make much 
ence if they were all on one 1 
or not- 

To be quite honest the rent 
reason why there are no photos 
Ot old misery guts *» not that he 



I to camera shy, Just that he's 

I down right ugly — okay? 

I Nice idea about the timing 

I schedules but I'm afraid it's Just 

, not that easy. In fact Tve never 

l met or actually spoken lo any of 

. the AA mob — except once 

when I rang them about some 

1 help getting an address, but 1 

didn't ten them it was me — 

thanks guys! (Snigger, snigger!) 

We didn't print our ABC 

figures for the pure and simple 

reason that they weren't done. 

Money being the cause, rf we 

had done an ABC there would 

have been very Htfle colour for a 

few months — *orry . As for your 

quess bump It up by about €.000 

and that's our COM AG figures 

— good eh? 

Paul isn't mentioned or seen 
because he doesn t like public 
rty and he's gone back over to 
ZZAPE now Thnnks for writing 
and tho chocolate bar you sent 
me had nothing to do with the 
fact I'm making you tatter Of 
The Month, 
S J 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 9 



ygN«THE»SB©T*[ 




AND NOW ... A rvdpe for an AMTtX! Christmas Pud! 



TIME FOR CHRISTMAS 
PUDDING 



Dear Saffron 

You asked for it, SO 

To make the Amtix' 



horo4Bp 
od fPMd yc 



ypu 



' i$(: loos ground mined 

■ • - spoon ground c»nn imon 
I te«poof ■ grated nutri ieg 

(60/ 1 fresh whtte bread 

■ ml 

I75g 

350fl(l. 

250q (floz) n 

250g (SD2| curraTMi 

75g (3o# chopped mixed peei 

grated Fine* and ju*ce of 1 orange 

{exerting eh?) 

1 2t)mi |4 n ozj brown ale (even 




- : 



I0oz(275g)ra*sins 

4 02 (lOOg) dried mixed peel 

4 tabkespoons (60ml) brandy 

1 tablespoons ( 1 Smf) black treacle 
3 grade 3 eggs, lightly beaten 

5fl« (142ml) rnHk 
J^LMispoons (10mQ gravy 
browf jfio colour the pudding) 
■ aT(IOOg) dark soft brown 
sugar 
oz (tOOgJ caster sugar 
0/ (i 75g] shredded sue! 
o£ (75g) fresh breadcrumbs 
02 (75g) chopped at monda 
1 07 (25g) glace cherries 
H ttV&l tfta^poon (2.5ml) salt 
levef teaspoon (1 25mU cinnamon 
levef teaspoon powdered 

ptopi 

leveHfeHspuon ground nutmeg 
grated nnd of n temon 
grated rind of to orange 

5 oz 1 175g) plain Dour 



St 

I 



(n« with a broJIy) 
Now for the magical touch 



Sift flour and spice* unto a bow* 
add the breadcrumbs and rub in W± 
butter. Add the remaining ingre- 
dients and mm thoroughly 

Turn into a greased 1 .5 irtre (2 1 * 




pinch of 

4 tablespoons 
, sherry and rum 1 * to 



Method 



pints for you non metrics} pudding 

basin, cover with a pudding doih 
or greaseproof paper and totf and 
store in a cool 




* MM 



i fhJta 



. Cover im^rf frurta 

water *n a lejje bowl. Heal for 4 

trtas frien leave 10 aland for 1 



rbi^Jyt 



To Serve (trie fOOT bit) steam 

pudding agai J nr 2 to 2 'A hours 

Turn out j r U* a ^.irm dish. tl you 

■ ixmr 2 to 3 tabto-.r-j ng or 

: ned t randy and ignite *yei 

€p wr* - cream or 
riiop^hoiy 

Serves I - if.} so you'd L- ■> 
ake 3 tor it ,l AMTIXE ti *m. 



M.*a Lloyd, 



Weil done Mike, the**'* a T Shirt 
winging v to you as the 

first winner of the official AMTIXf 
pud. and jolly nice it is too — try 

ST 



CHRISTMAS PUD, MK 2 



Dear Saffron 

Okay here s a Christmas pud' for 

your seasonal issue of rVmixl, but 

unfortunately you nave to have a 
microwave to cook ft> 



AMT1XJ CHRISTMAS 

Cooking cooiwnrjf ett 

p*nt basins, or lour one 

Cooking time. See b 

Number of servings 

Ingredients 

6 ox \ 175g) currants 

4 oz i iOOg) sultanas 



asms. 



10 AMTtX Christmas 



^ec.al 



2 Sf ram fruit and adr quaufl 
Lea, jfflio stand tvem r* ». 

■ "■a*houn» 

f ir in aN nquids then mix in 
rest of ingredient. 

4. Grease basins and put mix- 
into them. Cover tops loosely 
wtih c^ng film Do not insert any 
form of metals . Cook as indicated 

EXeiOw 

Cooking 

(vanes according to power and 
setting of machine — m this case 
rt will be 500w and Ml power) 

2lb pud 1 ■ Microwave 6 mins. 
Stand 5 mms. Microwave 6 - 7 
mins. 

lib p^id - Microwave 3 rmns 
Stand 4 mins. Mtcfowav* 214-3 
nuns, 

NB. The pudding may look a bit 
but it realty tales moist and 
tt is best complemented 
le sauce, rum butter, toe- 
and thick, thick cream 

John Shqacar, an avid AMTIX! 




There's also a T 8h"i on in* way 

to you jurrn. Two prizes were 

awarded as this was the best 

o wave entry, this one is 

don't toy it rf you" re 

en 

• 3 





■" 



PLUSSED! 

ONLY NOT MUCH 



Door AMTIX 

When l heard 1 that GAC plus was 
going to become available I 
decKled to buy a disk drive tor rny 
464 and a typewriter to make 
evorythirKj neat. I have already 
designed my new iidvenlure game 
HJ*d take page^ io left you 
ail about h so instead I wiM fust tell 
you some outline details. 

Tha gams m called The Msgicaf 
Mystery and rt s * Sbarta. Part t 
>s catt ed The L and of Jo ke re and 
Magic and it has 152 location m 
wtth grsphpes Ian artist I know is 

on Side A of Ihe disk, on side B is 
part 2, The Magrc Crystals whieh 

has 1 50 local ions making a total of 
302 kjcatnons The piot is mat aftw 
trying out a magic poiion. wh*ch 
will give you a tranaportpr 
machine, this will then tahe ytw to 



part 2 where you have to find 12 
magic crystals arid when you plug 
them into your transporter you ge* 
taken bach io your home in the 
rmdrJto of London Please lefl me 
what you think oi thts game. I also 

andthiry said rt you send back your 
old 3AC you must p#y another £21 
(tape) or €22 {disk) and they sand 
GAG Plus So n's not a r^EE 

Your* al nc e r at y . Devkl rUb- 
bon, Quarry Crescent, Bear- 
perk, County DunHem, 

t did try ringing '■ 
there was no em 
coukJn't check up for you,, but it 
is not being reiaaiea until the 
New Year, and np price has been 
confif-m^d tor it jrei. 



HEY GUYS, 
LOOK WHAT 
I'VE DONE! 



Dear ST 

On reeding your hitter from A 
Durum on the cati command I 
have round that rt you type m this 
Wtte program 

IOforaV>t7to24 

20caNa 

30nexta 

Run it and kst ft, and Io and 
behold hne 20 has changed to: 

20 Can a PAPER 

WHY? 
PRO {O-Eyenr- ThwKier*l*y fc 



PS Sometimes rt goes potty 11 or 

juetreeels 

vrn Tffpon ooee mv a 



Why? Well, 111 be Mowed If I 
know AJI my CPC464 does it 

come up wtth the tape loading 
message. "Press play and then 
any key'. Maybe the reel of you 
would like to tell me what your* 
deee — maybe not. 
ST 



YOU DIDN'T 
TELL ME a 

Dear Saffron H 

Dearly belovftri, wjfca ragaii^jfeu 
here today to tatt rtxiut the ' 
Ooid o#e- : For- early 
.-, j have oeen: 
those tittle btie mm* > the *tyn 
; i I reaJ tfwi wj<.i>iave 

Kara iron. US Gold 
games, flipping heck , i tftrjught 
ie nioney ma w 
■ . teo shop, picked up 
a copy of WtnteflGLinm gave u^e 
nice man my mon^^|H^RrJ 
home, loaded up the game, 
unfolded the instructions, no fettle 
red star, took out the miay card 
thir\gy p and surprise, surprise, no 
little red star. Come on AMTIX', tei 
us the truth, we can take it, Oh - 
while I'm here, whet's i 
' Yoors pokmgly ' etc, at 
of your replies, it looks bke I 
of the Beano. 

Thanh you and Qoodnight. 

Wight 



Not my fault (A favourite 
of mine] The stars were there 
the meg every month — check 
wtth US Gold about their stars, 
they did put them most of the 
games. It wee just a matter of 
getting the right ones. 
ST 




ff 




EARLY NEW YEAR'S 

HONOURS 



r Serfr on 
Hare are my never to be i 
New Year's Honours List (atoeit 
Mhtiy 1*16, or * rt «vty7): 
A PAT ON THE BACK FOR . , . 
1 i Ambyte for giving all us 6123 
owners a chance to actually have 
some da cafH software which Ml 



for 1000 word voc 
who needs them in 
hack nstoy H adventures like 

2) Ocean and US OoM for Mr 
general mistreatment of custom 
arm, and bang slower than a snail 
In getting out their over-hyped 



21 To new and oriotnal ideas which 
Come from software houses, such 
ft* 064C7WA TOftSor SPLIT PFR- 
SONAUTmSwtHChmakAitmCPC 
and PCW Amsfreds the trend-set 
lers They are r 

3) Meaterironfc. for giving budget 
■oft wa r e a good name {even 
though signs of decay are setting 
m, eg, 5-asid* rbofoaity 

BUT BLACK MARKS TO . . . 
ijLaveitJorthitTkmg they are the 
be el and and aft of adventures 



games 
5) A < 



AMTIXr for changing the* bnlto 
logo (the kjgo was rhe thing that 
attracted me to AMTlXf rattier than 
AA. txrl ihe new features are great , 
so everything is superb 1 
Well that's al for now. 
Paul Robinson. Bradford 

Yep, thev seem pretty fair mm 
who are Ambyte anyway? 

; r 





r 



Dear Saffron 

I love you. 

Um . . . er . . , sorry about that 
my pen got earned away. RighL 
first I want to dispute what a reader 
of your said about the new logo tor 
amtw He suggested flwgirng 
with water. I strongly recommend 
(so what if it's spelt wrongly- it's 
not now ED) using a concentrated 
acid. 

In many respects your magazine 
is fantastic. I just haven" t worked 
out what they are yet (onry joking) 

First can 1 complain (yes. thank 
you) about the amount or adverts 
in the magazine. There are tqfl, 
many, OK maybe you do EJM| to 
some to pay for the magazine birt 
t think they should b* in, i*?d *o 
par magazine p&Htfne — I 

n referring to l ". -■'• iBh ^rapf*^ 
adverts on pages 46 and 47 wrin 
wotr i = io 61 advertia- 

i¥| T' ■ .! ■■' ■ : xluct In «.-.; 
N over ! «jr issue v 
P^B the game V&m Cm' was 
fi jen : ■ '« you lot 

it , by a reliable 
I have ai$o seen " 
out 

te many complaints about 
arty competitions and promises to 
k*ck the minion about it. it hasn't 
done much good even the Scooby 



Doq competrhdn (November 
again) needs a certain degree of 
artyne&s. 

You said, somewhere that 
Amtech would be becoming more 
user friendly The only way it could 
become user friendly would be to 
disappear 1 So here's an AMTIX 
Challenge I challenge Tony 
(Technocrapj Clarke to justify his 
existence. If you got nd of rt you 

Skj give more room for Adven- 
Strategy, On the Spot and 
Ires (and more competitions) 

These features in the November 
issue were good: 

Mj top five game; Feature on 
Elite pi j.Mrtimer, Adventure. 
Strategy, Oetta 4 
Spot,AMTi v '' '-Aitongeandoom- 
petitions, bts have more of this, 

vVhydWhec^rvemyNovemtwr 
iaaij* at the ■■"d of September, 
dj«t thet mean I gel the 
Dec*.-- ber issue in October? (I 
don't krwv did you?- ED). Why 
havn you mucked the dates up? 
Why r? n't you have two issues 
the same ctate? Why am I writ- 
ing? Where am I? What is the pur- 
pose in UW 

Thanks for a good issue but the 
only good changes would be the 
changing the title logo back to 
what it was. Happy Christmas! 



NOW FOR A 
QUICK FLASH! 



Dear Saffron 

Wei. my prayer* ware 
answ er e d* When I wrote to you 
ftetue 18} under the gutse of fttch 
Flash " Spence 1 told you how bor 
ing and Stuffy you were Bui. mat 
has all changed And might I say. 
it's for the better 

I used to splash out pennies on 
Amcrap Action but when I saw 
issue 12, well, I nearly Hipped 1 The 
new AM7W logo is a treat' Your 
fertewi are brwrt fw* eh* 
lenge (mega-tab!) the comps 
(thank you oh sejcy mmtonfy dni< r « 
But you Saffron nave changed the 
face of the mag Yes. wrth your 
bold criticisms and raws are brill 
May we have a to*g glorious f\M col- 
our ptnk fpMtay photo of yourself 
I have emcfcoieffl a photo of myself 
al ClankthOfpa-On-Sea. as you 
can see, rm a handaoma devil . to 
how about rt crwpfc? 

vor ao coo*, wave and i-s- 
seay Spence from buxiing 
Drum tough, Electrical Northern 
M*Kl- 

filutih , blush, Thanks but I'm too 
shy really. 



ME GOT A FANZINE 
AND I'M GONNA USE IT! 

¥ Dear Saffron 

To atari oh with, pum can t 
have signed photo* 0i the AMTlX ■ 
team as I thknk you are aU very cool 

(dudes The mam reason for writing 
is to spread the word about 
Mannas, a fanzine I am creating 
with a few friends I fimv^ written 
j off to some software companies 
I for support and am wntmg nome 
articles al the moment Will it be 
alnghi rf I send you the magazine 
when it is finished tor reviewing? 
I Also I would Nke to hear from 
f any keen adventures who would 
like to wnte an adventure coMm 

♦ m the magtame ao pleeBi print my 
full address 
Thomas Wilson k West acre. Mar * 
raw on the Hi* p Middlesex. HA1 
3LS. 
1 ^ Ptoae d o some more greet 
* subeohpten ollara. 

PSS The new mag is bntant 

rn^iniy nfH.*HJ?M? Oi semuih Trrf 
i JoyshchJuniEies.MAl.Oiiandlani 



Our la a ld ant 

Richard, will take care of your 
Fanzine when it 1 * finished end 
it'll be kn the quartarty fanzine 
feature. Subscription offers this 
month {Being set up as I write} 

(are mega end great ~ laite the 
chance while rt'» still open. Any 
- for celling rt Hermes ? I 



ST" 



OF PATRICK 



By the way the Joyce supple- 
ment wasn't really a supppemerrt t 
have bought most of the 
magazines ami the Joyce one had 
an average number of oaom. The 
first one! bought had 122 pages 
(January No 3) the second 1 06,3rd 
-106, 4th - 106. 5HMl4 F 6th->«a. 
7th - 98, 8th - 106 f Joyce). 0th - 98 B 
1 0th - 106 (nos S - 13) so the Joyca 
supplement Wasn't so good after 
all. Why are there tesa pages now 
than there normally were? I mean 
24 Paget rs a lot ol difference 

dd yfru know my pen really 
fancies you and because of this I 
ha*e > r ducted a picture of him on 
I he back of this letter. Handsome 
airtt he^ No. he isn't . . Yes I am 

„ . hsTpn who's wrrting this letter 
me or you, . . Me. ... no you're 
rwt, ouch how dare your prick me 
I'll end up dying of poisoning, ouch 

atop rt HELP 1 

Patrick Samphire. County 
Down. Northern Ireland- 



you lot. leave my lovely 
lege alone it's going 
through art Inferiority complex 
as it la, Concerning adverts: the 
thing la that us mere mortals 
down In editorial never see 
adverts all we are told it that, 
say, 30 adverts are going in — 



your 
you 



Ml 



that's all we know. 
point on reviewing 
must realise that aa you 
1Mb issue of AMTIXI the < 
for the February edition 
gone — so really tf you 
game In the shops 
review It* it means thai 
had the game for about 
weeks — interesting huh? 

I think you missed the point 
about the Scoo&y Dgo competi- 
tion. The idee was to just till the 
areas with the most horrendous 
colours you can imagine — did 
you try though? Were you a win- 
ner? Me hopes so, 

Now, now we can't go around 
slagging off Mr Clarice, he gate 
enough hassle as it is, poor 
Muffin the Mule, oops sorry 
Tony* J tNfifc y&u'rm getting a 
wee bH confused wrth the cover 
dates — look here's the idiots 
guide just for you! If the cover 
date is December you get the 
mag the first week m November 
— okay? Good, Yea* we don't 
get a lot orf pages, but just look 
at Hire monster issue — good 
eh? Last month's was podgy 
too! There the way we hope rt 



will stay. 
Give my love to your pen 

Special 1986 11 



AMTIX Christmas! 



w 




»ON~THE-SB0TV] 

■ — — -^ 



t0 > 



POINTS OF VIEW 
(With no Barry Took) 

Dear Saffron 

I must say *ell done to aJI the 
chaps (and chapesses?) who 
desigrwi the new look AMTiX 1 — 
with its coJouPSG a cc oiade ' pages 
etc but I do have a few moans 
howevw ^^_ 

1) I have wmtfan 4 letters (none 
MbMshatf) and haw entered at 
least 20 comps — vets 20!! and I 
haven't won a thi ng. 

3 1 have owned a game called 
OMiUartarttf /^ Orotf 6y Maatar- 
frente tor about 5 months , bought 
•vary rssue of AMTiX 1 y*i cannot 
s*a a rswew anywtwe ~ yet you 
giva tips for rtf 

3} Tha same applies to Cfry* *» 
Fgg W. I've had this lor 4 months 
now. and no magazine has 
reviewed ft, or even mentioned rL l 
know it is up to the companies to 
send you the games to review, so 
i think t+iis tattwir fault' Don"! they 
want meir games revte-^ed^ 

As the !:ds you -gave for Ftnd&* 
Keepers' m an earlier issue turned 
out to be upa for qpnjmNj Can. 
IV© enclosed a Map. and some 
lipa (or it. « well as some other 
bop games, 

Peter Rabbege, Dawlish, S 
Devon EX? OOY 



1) 

— you 

2) t'm 



my 
3}Ars 



J i ii ■■*■ ■ 

sorry 



Considers* yourself pub- 
Keep entering tha comps 
know rt make* sense, 
. sura it was reviewed a 
back only I Quite can't put 
geronrt 

you sura CE II was on tha 

I cant remember it — 

_ me would you please? 

about the mix up on the 

ni brolly them m art foe 



youl 

ST 



AS IF BY MAGIC, 
A LETTER 
APPEARED 

Dear Thing? 

No doubt you will lake offence at 
being cated this bul .iH I can say is 
I have forgotten your name {yes 
honestly 'i any way oflence is bet- 
ter than al mi. got rt* 

Probably not. Anyway now to 
gel lo the point ol thts fetter i was i 
watchmg tetevrsion last night and 
an advert came on for the post 
office and I thought — yes realty — 
wot a shams not to use the postal 
service so rmt% your are, 
Yourv sincerely, Anon, (wouldn't 
you be!) 

PS The pnoe ol Magtfc is too easy 
lo solve but sMt a good game 

Well done, us* your postal ser- 
vice — but how about a letter on 
computer's neat time? Well.. I 
OOwMan solve ffeevy On The 
M&qitik lor n long time so there! 



Dear Saffron 

AqhrV What happened lo the 
hardware softy that usad to 
appear m the back of AUmX! i 
know the story fmhed and Cross 
finally died and everybody want 
back to earth, but couldn't we 
have another story? Stones Itoe 
Ehat lighten up a reader's nund 



. Tony 
and Richard as ih* heroes ol tha 
story (Lee could be me heromeL 
Ci umWy as the evil dictator that 
rules over the AMTIX 1 off toes and 
Auntie Aggie as me evtl monster 
thai doss Crumbrv's dirty work. 
The heroes would nave lo try and 
escape from | he e vi I grip of Itie die 
tat or and the AMTIX" offices 
Crumbly is hneify defeated by 
hookmg him up lo a CPC6126 as 
a foystick and loses his head 
because he wasn't compatible 



and Auntie Auju#e loses her tamper 
on his neck (the slick } What a ht jr 
nttfe way lor Crumhty to die you 
soy, never mmd, J'm sure nobody 
will mrsa h«ni 

Yours, Matthew Huntington, 
Winderm er e, Cumbria 

PS Apart tram Crumbly the mag is 
briH" 1 



PPS 

fum Gn 



PS Why 
Crumbly' 



aoai sv a t y cj i e gal 



t'm sure the Junkies would love 
it We call htm Crumbly because a 
Cup of tea is too wet without him 
Satisfied? Good. Oh by me way 
he " s read your letter and rs makm? 
all kinds of threats against your 
person. I've hidden your full 
address so you're safe from Ml 
lerriWewrJtm. 

*; r 



FROM A FELLOW 
SPIKY PERSON . 



Saffron 

He»o And hello to M the rest of 
tha gang at AMTtX 1 Towers Espe 
oatty all with spikey hair — I am 
also one of the dan. 

Now down to business 
(yawn) Is mere any more news of 
LM yet? My mate fZZAPI reader) 
says he has seen an ad for it Do 
we get first 4*s with Christmas 
AMT1X'? {Brt of a Silly question 
now) 

Seconoly, p4ease please 
PLEASE bnng bach the o4d logo! 1 
know you like it, but the mag rust 
doesn't look the same with it (al- 
though this won't stop me buying 
il fof course). 

Of You Mr nasty person* I don't 
really care what hair style you have 
(whamies make me pufte too), but 
I (and hopefully some other r ead- 
era, too) am sack of the UTTER load 
of bullshit you spout. And leave off 
this nice Saffron parson (subtle!! 
— aren'l concrete swimming 
accessories a bit out of date now, 
anyway? t thought steel designer 
straight jackets were in. 

WeH, that's enough for now 
Keep up the good work (and the 
spdtey haircuts). Oh and Atony 
Cnnstmas and good luck in Hie 
New Veer (not that you need rt), 

Duncan 'DUNK and I'm proud of 
It 1 Ball, Malvern Unk, Worcs 



PS My girlfriend goes to Ludlow 
College, so I might be up there 
sometime Mind if I drop m? 

FFS What's all this about mr>v 
key boots and suspenders? Can I 
have a poster of the gang? Or at 
least some signed photos? 

PPPS (Phew) Any hints on ha* 
care? What do you use to spike H? 
Have you had enough? Who are 
these men in while coats? etc 

Super dooper — a fellow spikey? 
Mass. Rich and my good serf ere 
well pleased' Here's the news of 
LM — *t*» on the back of this 
nl+ga issue of AMTIX Leave the 
logo alone, It's in tears! Actually 
Mr Natty (Aka P Thompson) isn't 
such a bad guy — he's just mis- 
understood. Of course you can 
corns and see us at any time — 
just ring first- As for the poster, 
take a look at the mega chal- 
lenge pic — just ignore the 
ZZAP! and CRASH primadon 
nas. If you want rt autographed 
cut rt out and send H into me and 
I'll sort rt out for you. Hair care? 
We all use styling moose And 
conditioner wttti the traditional 
Boots own brand hairspray 
(Firm hold, unperfumed) — 
you're not a spiky without rtf 
ST 



WE LOVE YOU! 



Dear AMTtKf 

In my opinion I thm* your 
magazine has just topped the 
opposition. Until now I thought 
AMTIX* was a ciose 2nd with he 
AA (that wefl known motoring 
group) a few steps ahead. Now I 
trunk yours is the magazine in 
front. This es, m my opirwon, 
because of one thing only and that 
is the previews section, it's 
GREAT? Far and away rt ts the moal 
exciting pan of tho magazine 

AA on the other hand navea pre- 
views section one* In a while with 
only a couple of games previewed , 

I am also pjiaatd you bought 
forward the r efce ase data of tha 
marine Keep up the good work 
A J PrftchardL Milton Abbot, 
Tavistock, Devon. 

Someone from my part of tha 
country — how are you? Fine? 
Great Oh, you flatter um — lots 
more b*u*hing. 
ST 



THE £10 BET 



DearOTS 

Could you tell me are there any 
plans to retaaM flC's OuWf tor 
tyres Also I noticed m your charts 
you said Sandboy was published 
by Activtaton, when it is published 
b¥ Electric Dreams Arid PLUCA 
PLEASE PLEASE could you « 
this letter lor I have El on ir ,. 
{my software money) Oh b> V 
way your maujaz^ie is bniHam 
yours sincerely, Simon W<i- 
hams. Birkenhuao, MefseynMw 

I'm afraid that BC's Ouasf For 
Tyres isn't going to be released 
— it wasn't much good anyway. 
ActivisSofi and "Leccy 
are near enough tha 
mam* company — just . Thar* we 
go — you can keep your £10 now 
unless you'd like to split Hi wtth 
ma. 

J 1 T 



AA 



THAT'S YER LOT 



Oooh r working (ate nights never 
do you any good. 10. tS pm and 
till the team n still here in AMTIX 1 
Towers Well, the mag must get 
written I suppose Right then, 
hope you ai have a we+i greal 'n' 
mega Christmas and Santa 
brings you tots of lowerly 
games for you to get high scores 
on — the scoreboard is awaiting 
to be filled- I'm off home now. 
Sue, my best pai H is getting ted 
up waiting lor me. so I suppose 
I had better go Cheeno and bye 
until nest year. Letters, as 
always to: SAFFY TREVASKIS 
AMTIX' Towers. PQBon 10. Lud- 
low, Shropshire SYS 1DB 



12 AMTIX Chnstmas Special 1 986 











GIVE IT SOME STICK 
WITH THE SLICKER 

Get on the move with Stick, our 

offbeat lee , defuse the 

d&monic piot of sadistic Abru *^^1 
Cadabro tn his manic attempt to obtftefato 
the Houses of Parliament mde the raifs%rouQ 
the cuMhroal perils of the Underground 
expose yourself to the harsh humour otlow-ttte 

London put keep your street credibility at all 

times. Against the odds, It Is vital you save the nation * 
prestigious seal at power The survival of Law, Order and 
Society as we know it depends an YOU. 



56b Mfton Trading Estate* 'EWbon, Ab*iB*m fc Oion OKI 4 4RX 



AiDOrtofourooriit1ff%jii^ touswrmo *ew Jopt©i«xrtkyi 



'J£iio& 



I Ma.su does win games occasion - 
IftUy Smarygil SNAP' 



11- 



\ 



Ma*i — Shocked after loa* of a 
Ufa in a game What else couJd 
w&dobut SNAP 1 



"3 — 



Mentioning H aid ware Scroll 
Again Anthony'* Tut tut SNAP' 



I The Cuddly Crumbly one pose* 
for a publicity still, looks a bit 
wobbly though? SNAP! 






<4Uc- 



* 



Laws* — A"S| 



SAFFRON'S (| 
SCRAPBOOK 



Aa with any review of the year's happenings it's 
always worth reminding people of the things they'd 
rath e r I o r g et ahou t — but they won f t ha v e chance to 
forget them if I have my way, Ha ! Just take at a look 
at the number of a illy photographs the team have 
been insulted with over the past five months. I'm off 
home now before they get to see them - ■ . 



There was the time when Ricky 
and I Hogged off down the pa* k 
in seajch of fame tun Who 
should be there hut Gem 
8WAP1 



lL 



ecupolBBcoffs* Cain 






14 AMTtX Christmas Special 1986 



Ricky having another game with 
something cute and cuddly {See 
challenge} Don't you dare Cam 1 
SNAP! 




hBEV4EWS< 



FIRELORD 



Hewsons, E8.95 cass, £14.95 disk, 
joystick or keys 



The path wove deeper through 
the forest, beckoning Sir 
Galaheast further into the flickering 
shadow*. A voice spoke out in the 
drnrrung gte*om. 

"My son, you have retimed to 
this land of torot to discover 
hidden secrets, You must seek out 
the sacred Firestone and return it 
to m* Dragon's safe keeping ". 

As The rniend<ng Ftf0kyrd r 
Gataheart musi use all Ns skill, 
cunrung and f i repower To save Ns 
Land from the treachery of the evil 
Queen. Having tricked the dragon 
into parting with the Firestone, the 
malicious Queen is now terrorising 
the popuius with deadly firebata. 
At one time the people roamed 
freely hut now they cower m their 
homes. Her pnee for the release of 
the Freefone, is for some brave 
wamor to win for her the four 
charms of elerna) youth. This task 



-ttm 



I am afraid FIRELORD I 
didn't appeal to me much, 
the tele* of running 
around a maze that cov- 
er* several screens went 
out with SABRf WULfJ 
even If this one has been I 
jazzed up by including 
puzzles. The thing I did 
enjoy about the game 
the way you could I 
! from the villagers, 
and consequently be put 
on trial rf you wen 
caught. Besides this I 
found very Irttle to keep 
me going for tang. 

has fatten to GaJaheart 

You control Galaheart in his 
quest to collect these elements 
and take them to the Queen, but 
your task ia not a sample or*e The 
streets are not as deserted as they 




hart 
decern arcade adventure I 
for quite 
— at least 
none that nave something | 
special going few them 
What FiRELOflO hesj 

for it. is one ma*- 

maze with greet ] 
intermission sections, 
such as the trading one, ' 
and rf you're feeling a bit 
naughty you can pinch 
things too — great? The 
graphics have been 
designed superbly, with 
the definition making 
wtch small detail really 

out. Although 
graphics are all done in 
one, they donl 

f to suffer greatly — 
green for the leaves and 
red for the trees (it 1 * logi- 
cal And if works quite well' 
tool, Thts is by no means 
going to be &n easy game 
to eorv* — a fair bit of 



have to be solved, but it 
grves great satisfaction 
when you've completed 
it 

first seemed, for although there 
are no people. ghostly apportions 
now wander around. So your first 
task is to protect yoursarf b for this 
you must find an enchanted crys- 
tal to acquire firepower. As you 
make your way around zapping 
the ghoeffes, you will notice that 
your energy gets rather tow. This 
can be replenished by picking up 
items of food such as sacks of 
com or bushels of wheat mat you 
may come across. Other objects 
you may find can be used to barter 
with. To aid you on your travels 



*«*r Zm S?£E?L" *» **m 



<^**W from nw* 



^•etawta 



— whm&m'tQ 



<**GlS*Qti$. 




0#f /apfwng *f*em ghastfas you 
brave fcnigrfif roo, hut wliat'a 
rhjs? / wonder wno he if find in 
here? 



there are sign posts directing you 
to the various locations. 

Trading can be done with a host 
of different peopte; the Peasants, 
Gatekeeper, Herbalist, Witches 
and Wizards, Knights, Wise Old 
Man, and the Bishop All of them 
can supply you with helpful 
objects, H you don't want to barter, 
then why not steal from them? 
Most of them are easily cheated, 
but the B»$hop tends to be quick 
and Ns justice m swifr. If caught, a 
screen appears with a Cursor 
r apidty mo vi ng between the words 
Innocem and Guilty You must 
choose when to stop the cursor — 
if rt stops on Guilty you lose one of 
your three lives Vou have to go 
through this, ordeal three times and 
rf thrice guilty you ve had it matey 
* end of game* 



/fkss 



Who said crime doesn 
pay? Well it does here, 
that Is when you've mas- 
tered the technirjua. Once 
proficient at this art I 
found I could get near 
enough whatever I 
wanted with a minimum 
Of trouble. Getting caught 
can prove quite hairy 
though. The gam* on the 
whole ia vary pleyaMe 
with neat graphics and 
nice touches, such as the 
sign posts to help you rf 
you gat lost Wandering 
around can also prove 
hairy as you 1 re constantly 
hassled by the ghost res I 
found It easier to 4 el! -inch 
a Times cap* spell off 
soma poor unsuspecting 
sod. FIRELORD is -ifi 
excellent game with great 
appeal —especially for ail 
you petty Larcentitm out 
there, Buy rt — hY s a steak 1 



PRESENTATION 80% 

Very informative without giving too much away 

ORAPHIC8 68% 

Superbly defined, lota of character. 

SOUND 35% 

No tune, meagre spol effects. 

PLAYABILITY 89% 

Simple enough to get into ■ . . 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 85% 

. . . but a great deal to master 

VALUE FOR MONEY 84% 

Lots of maze for your money, 




A great little arcade adventure that proves a lot of fun. 



AMTIX Chnstrnas Special 1 986 15 




bBE\UEWS4 



MGT 



LoricieJs, 
£9.95 cas3 P 
joystick only 

Falling attendances and plain 
tad football aren't problems 
which bother this Crystal Palace. 
The once grand castle of never- 
ending Oeiighis is no mora. Ice has 
seeped m through every last crack, 
making the whole temple a sJ uhery 
domain 

The saving factor for anyone 
who fancies a wander through the 
cornobrs, *s a centrally heated 
bumper car known as Magnetite, 
Magnetite is dropped ungra- 
ciously into the first room and left 
to rt* own initiative to get around. 



tfkss 



We received this game l 
with no instructional 
whatsoever, and I c 
honestly say that ! h 
noun of tun wandering I 
round not having a duel 
what to do. The game ■&] 
superb in the way your lit- 
tle tank thingy follows! 
every law of inertia t can I 
think ot P rts movements! 
on the tee block s are also 
v&ry true to life. The puz- 
zles in the various rooms 
en ingenious, what wtth 
certain blocks rising 
when you shoot them, 
end platforms to skim 
across the electrified 
floors. The graphics are 
excellent. There Is no 
tune and not a lot of FX 
but who cares? Ifs a 
great game!! 

Magnetite is not your run-of - the 
mifl tank, ahe is air powered. Jpts 
on each of her four sides deter- 
mine the way in which she man- 
oeuvres her graceful body, Mag- 
nettle holds her powers very well 
— to such an extent that inertia 
cames her on even when the con- 
trolling joystick is reJoasod- 
Unguerded doors provide pas- 
sages to the more obvious rooms, 
the screen then flicks from one 
location to another The extreme 
cold has had a few nasty side 
effects — the most prominent 
being massive slabs of ice which 
usually do their best to got m the 
way of your Magnate Tank, 
Launch pads can occasionally be 
found to get over that problem. 
they take trie Shape Of white cros- 
sed squares. Travel onto them and 
press fire and your MGT will levi- 
tate mta the Air — releasing fire will 
let MGT drop but you can now 
manoeuvre her in rmd-flighi. This 
function allows you to reach 
blocks or entrances thai are just a 
bit too high. 

Life is not all slipping around 
with MGT. there are many distrac- 
tions lurking m the various rooms. 
Most noticeable are the laser 
beams which span the entire 




height of a single room. These 
move about in preset patterns and 
colliding with these will obliterate 
MGT into a multitude of colourful 
atoms. Other hazards include 
bouncing squtdges which won't 



^tfL*i 



This is one game I could I 
ploy for hours. The 
graphics are brilliant, the] 
sound just right, and the 
garneptay amazing. Very 
little et» to say really . The 
game is very atmospheric I 
a^nd although we had no I 
instructions or scenario rt] 
was wry easy to get into. 
A* a matter of feci I think \ 
the game was improved 
by us not having a clue 
what we had to do — just 
pick It up as you go along. 
Go out and get it quick as 
the local shop is sure to 
runout. 

kin you outright, but will seriously 
deplete your energy — measured 
by a gradually depfoting MGT logo 



at the bottom i«ft hand comer of 
the screen. 

Scattered around the rooms are 
passes which enable you to pass 
through dosed doors, to pick 
these up MGT must shoot at them. 
These will only work as kmg as the 
pass matches the sign above the 
door MGT must hurtle around the 
rooms at breakneck speed until 
she reaches her legendary desti- 
nation — the room of enfighten- 



Ifl a very strange I 
game ~ but nevertheless 
it is very good. It would | 
appear mat It has 
designed by a 
lioni at — the graphics are I 
vefy slick, end animated 
..xtFRmpiy wen Thai 
movement with the iner- 1 

tie sew ma ao realistic that 
I can't fault it in the 1 
slightest. There's a great 
number of pin ilie to be 
solved, bul none of them 
mo hard thai you end up 
getting frustrated. 

Although I was never 
quite sure what I was sup- 
posed to be doing, I 
enjoyed it im mensery and 
it's such a good game 
I would urge 
to take a cJoae 
look at It- 

men! where the secret of the crys- 
tal palace will be revealed 



Very siicK and professional 



Superb choice of colours — well designed. 

SOUND 76% 

Tune's f ine . FX are a brt annoying. 



/Might appear a brt fiddfy. but easy enough, 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 82% 

Lots to see and do through ihe winter months 

VALUE FOR MONEY 80% 

Fair enough for what it often. 



A great original game from Loric(eJs+ 



1 6 AMT IX Christmas Special 1 986 



-&fc!Hi 











now 



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^i MA Ah 






The KONIX SPEEDKING packs more punch. 
That's why it's fast overtaking ordinary 
joysticks to become one of the world's most 
popular hand control. 
As it's name suggests it's built for fast 
handling to give you lightening fast control. 
Micro switches await your slightest movement, 
and fly into action - ZAP, POW, SPLAT, 
BLAM - giving you instant 
reactions to every command. 
Tough, rugged and 
made in Britain 
to the very 



■■^,Km 



* 






highest standards, the 
KONIX SPEEDKING comes 
with a twelve month guarantee. 
Available for:- Spectrum and 
Spectrum Plus, Commodore 64, 128 
Vic2(X All Atari Computers, Electron, M.SX 
Computers, Amstrad and Oric at £12.99. 
Also:- BBC, Commodore C \6, Plus 4, and 
Dragon at £14,99, 

Trade and export enquiries contact 
Wayne or Sandra on 049525 5913, 



PKejse send me . 



Speed ksntfv Jt (12.99 i 
Speedkfafi IE £14.99 each 



n^ 



{Mot include* postage and picking in ct»e 
UK Overte« orders ple**e tend £2- SO per 

Speedktag.} 

Com Fueef nuke and mod*! . 



I eficbse i Cheque/ Powat Or det tot . 
mode payable to KONIX, 
Re*» Ciy rg* "W Arc***/¥i$a N*. 



Card holder* can telephone Of 04* 525 5* II. 



Signature. 

Name 

f Address, 



Postcode. 



, Telephone , 



Send to Konli Computer Product*, Unit H, Shrfrowy Hill ImJuitrtil 
1 1 E*Ute,Tf«*e«*f l G*eiitNP2 4QZ.U.K. 





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THE SPECiA 



EEP THE 





Ten chances to 
win the complete 



T Shirts and 
Caps for tne 

runners 




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somm 



Merrily, mennly ii's that lime of year A ma 

again when ttvc popuius is happity a bio 

scurrying tn and Out ot Marrods hag* 

and slocking up with unlimited grow 

supplies of Newcastle Bt own Ale. How* 

But wart, where is our own comps awry 

mireon? to he not searching for gate 

Kleaf pre se nt s for hts loved ones'? walk? 

Nay, tJhe poor soul is fed up with to hit 

being label led the dunce 01 AMT IX I . deas 

Towers and so has ur>deriaken vary i 

soma part time courses al the local fifth 1 

lech in an attempt toaccparesome Alngh 

sort of reasonable intelligence possl 

After many hours of meticulous Noi 

stuctes ha now has an estimated two p 

K) Of about three trillion (WOVVj. the t( 

And what better ways to u» his than | 

nearly acquired wisdom than to one U 

put a downer on the wbote sea- these 

son s testifies by confronting all but W 

you kjvaty readers with some mind your 

numbing -grey matter scrambling your t 

pu?24e5 (fh€?se will keep you quiet or. at 

Over New Year's Eve } Brain 

Let me ejtpifrn. 'Professor" Trw 

comps rrwiiort has devised 1 hr ee as ha 

little lateral ihmkmg puzjrtes lor you ha gi 

to toee deep over. The idea is lor going 
you lo give a feasible explanation 

of the circumstances described m Bra 

the putzteft To get you in the nghT A n 

frame oi mind here is an example neck 

20 AMTT1X Christmas Special 1 986 



A man Nye* on the tenth floor of 
a block of flats. Every morning 
he gets In the lift, gets off at the 
ground floor and goes to work. 
However, when he comes home 
every night he gets in the lilt, 
gets off at the fifth floor and 
walks the remaining five floors 
to his flat. Explain W<H« rolks. any 
ideas'' its easy realty. The man is 
very short and can only reach the 
frith floor button Get the gtst^ 
Alnght. alright so its silly hut it's 
possible, rant B7 

Now down to business, the first 
two puzzles wore found, by us at 
the TOWERS of lesser intelligence 
than pro! camps mmon, lo have 
one feasible explanation each so 
these must be answered correctly, 
but ihe last of the three is left lo 
your imagination. All the same 
your explanation must be feasible 
or. at least, very entertaining. 
Brain teaser 1 

There is a man heading as fast 
as ha can towards a held, when 
ha gets there he knows he's 
going to die. EXPLAIN. 

Brain teaser 2 

A man ia found hung by the 
neck m a large empty room. 



Underneath him is a poof of 
water. The ceiling is too high to 
be reached by hand or by jump- 
ing. How did he kilt himself? 

Brain teaser 3 

Cleopatra is tying dead in a 
shallow pool of water, Anthony 
is standing over her. Anthony 
killed Cleopatra by indirectly 
suffocating her. EXPLAIN 
(Don't be confused by the 
names). 

Well brajn boites, there they are. 
What do you trunk, easy? I hope 
not. But what do you gel hi 
exchange for exhausting a couple 
of mrll ion brain cells ( hear you ask . 

Well the first 10 correct entries 
wiil win the complete AMTlX 1 cot- 
lection, namely a sweatshirt, T 
Shirt, cap. and a binder. The next 
10 will receive a T shirt and the next 
10 a Cap, so please remember to 
include your t Shm sue nn your 
entry so we can send your onze to 
you. Rigbi get thinking and send 
your entries to Lateral Thinking 
Competition, AMTIX! Towers, P 
O Bo* 10, LUDLOW, Shropshire 
SYfr 100 You have until January 
8. 





>BEUIEW& 




Rino p £8-95 cass, 
joystick only 



Z« an unknown alien world, 
shrouded In death. Winy you 
are here in g sleek spaoefighter i* 
ttfftcutf to understand, but what i$ 
apparent »& mm the inhabitants of 
this world are not too pleased to 
see you Each one is hellbent on 
killing you and find the loss of their 
own lives a smalf sacrifice as long 
as they do you some damage fret. 
The only thmg to do ts escape 
through the Hyperspace portal* 
located on each section of the 
planet, but each is defended by a 
deadly laser shield thai must be 
breached before you Can continue 
onyouf fight for fife. 

Trie game is played on a scrol- 
ling landscape, with, at its centre, 
a boxed area containing a ship thai 
looks simifar to yours. At the top of 
the box is a moving shield which 
most be breached before you can 
get mto the box and so move on to 
The next level, The shield is made 
of tougher Stuff than the aliens and 
can only be damaged by energy 
bombs that must be collected. 
Every time you shoot ten aliens an 
energy bomb will appeal 1 . This 
must first be shot to deactivate its 
defensive shield and then oof- 
iected. A total ol five bombs may 
be collected at one time and once 
one is obtained you must fly i o the 
box . aim the ship at the shield and 
press the space bar. 

This whi release the bombs and 
puncture holes in the shield Once 
you have made a big enough hole 



rfCS 



No, I'm sorry, I'm not 
really Impressed by this 
el that much. To be fair 
the Am s trad doesn't see 
a game like this very often 
but that doesn't alter the 
fact that this style of 
game just doesn't appeal 
to m#. The has re Net 
q raphic s are well defined , 
and well animated — 
when they stand still or at 
least move slowly but 
after that the scrolling 
routine becomes slightly 
This is not 
It's a bed scroll 
just that in trying to move 
too many colourful 
graphics at such a high 
speed it loses it's clarity. 
Okay, so things do blur 
when moving at high 
speed, but my point is that 
you just don*t appreciate 
rt as much. For an 
Amstr&d this is very early 
days In this type of game. 
H J s not a bad start, but it's 
far too earty to begin say- 
ing that this I* state of the 
art — things will improve, 
mark my words. 



V&i 




n£*vj 



Unlike Richard, I think this 
game is great It may not 
be state of the art but it Is 
a good beginning. The 
Scrolling is dona well and 
is very fast The colourful 
backgrounds do not I 
detract from th* game as 
they tend to stick to one 
range of colours, for 
instance blues, greens 
and greys, whereas your 
ship and the aliens are 
subtle shades of red and 
orange. All this means 
that you know just what 
to Shoot or avoid. I will 
admit that much more 
c ouki have been added to 
this game but as a con- 
version from the Commo- 
dore il compares well. 

you just fly in and you are trans- 
ported onto the next level The 
game contains four levels m all. 
The first is set over a technical 
cenif e a=nd contains onty the tower 
forms of alien which are both easy 
to hit and take little energy from 
the ship should it collide with one. 

The Second level fs set in the 
Countryside Battle Zona n is 
played m exactly the same way as 
the first level but also contains the 
Saucims. These shoal missiles 
randomly in all directions but If you 
should stray into the stream then 
the ship will lose a lot of energy. 

The third level is set on a Lunar 



Landscape, full of craters and 
small space stations AN the 
hazards of levels one and two are 
to be avoided plus the added 
problem of the Mother ships which 
fire limited range homing mtssiles. 
They also require five direct hits 
before they blow up, If you should 
get past this level then you are 
given an extra irfe. 

The next level is Nighthlght 
which pJays exactly the same as 
leved 3 except that there is no 
transporter. Instead you must col- 
lect five bombs- After you have ail 
five an alien control ship will 
appear This must be destroyed by 
shooting it with I he five bombs I hot 
you have collected, only live direct 
hits wrll destroy it 

Do all this and its back to level 
one. but this time they are waiting 
for you. 



/P2g£S 



Anthony obviously likes : 
and Richard doeant I 
seem too keen on rt, so 
what do I think of it? Well | 
I must admit I do like it but 
I feel once the game has 
been completed I don't 
think I'd force my way to 
play rt again. The scrolling 
is good. The graphics and 
animation are good, The I 
FX ere Ok. But whan It 
comes down to the nitty 
gritty it's just another 
Space Invader type 
ahoot'em up, On the 
whole a very nice game 
but rather dated. 



Pleasing start, qurte impressive, 

GRAPHICS 80*/o 

Interesting use of bas-f staff, good. 



No tune, few mediocre bleeps and burps. 

PL AY ABILITY 72% 

Once you've got the hang ol it 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 70% 

, , it won't be long before it's finished 

VALUE FOR MONEY T1 °/o 

A fair pnce to* wnat it utters. 

OVERALL 75% 

The beginning of a new genre for the Amstrad. 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 966 21 



EARTLAND 

Odin Computer Graphics, £9.95 
case, joystick or keys 



W w tt 




m 






^5 



The Nelher World was once a 
happy and good ptece to Irm 
people roamed tree and plants 
flourished That was until the great 
battle too* piece it was a monstr- 
Uoody and homftc but 
of all ft was magical — an 
avti rnae»c h construed by the great 
eoroecer* leader erf ad that is nasty 
and mean Trie Sorrow had cast 
a we« nasty sped that transported 
m the Inhabitants of the Nether 
Wof4dif»*de The Book, where the 
evu osmon mwib, along wttn pus 

jj-hHd-hB* ^f juuiAiik, _^& a**. #^L^ h%j»aalj« 

Towwnrs, continue 10 OP name 

Arte* much dimension travelling 
aboard their book, the people of 
the Nether World were transported 
!o Earth for sate keeping unttt 
Midas was defeated The book 
was found and kept In a dusty 

my uetng 
fo 



I The first thing that tftrifces you 
HEARTLAND Is the mer- 
fl l_ap h Jca wh+ch realry 
l Although done In 
they do not appear 
btocfcy end* In feet* Wend very 
we* together, The Intro musk: hi 
041 • par wtth the graphic 6 — ■ 
marvelous ditty that happlry 
burbles away and Is vary pleas - 
Ing to the old ear holes. Hie pla- 
ns are very good, they're not 
eeeentlil to solve, so you can 
happfty wander around slmpty 
expionng me eoenary. vain 
have consistently come up wfth 
good products and this latest 
offering Just goes to prove that 
they've a b+g future In Amstred 
, Miss this at your peril! 



ban until, at last, (t has corns info 
your hands. Untike the rest of your 
a nce s to r s you are of the tnquteftive 
nature. Before long you sxamine 
the book and decide to sit down 
and h9v^ a good read. You begin 
the book, but sealed by the open 
fire you begin to feel sleepy and it 
is not long before you are stumbl- 
ing off lo bed and dreaming of 
many strange things . . . 

You find yourseff actually locked 
ins»de the book, along with the 
people of the Nether WorW P stand- 
ing m front of an elegant young 
lady. This young girl turns out to be 
the Queen, who begs you to 
deKver her people from eternal 
damnation inside the book. She 
tefts you that the final chapter oi 
The Book has been npped out, and 
to six pages scattered throughout 
the lends. However, the devious 




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9 On flmt hearing the dinky tune 
and on first sight of the loading 
screen I felt that thta was going 
to be a great game and I wasn't 
disappointed r The graphics are 
superb and the scenery, 
although sparse Jn piaces, la 
beautifully detailed. The gamap- 
lay Is wonderfully simple „ and as 
long as you keep en eye on your 
death mask youll have no prob- 
lem, that la if you don*t run Out Of 
time. I particularly like the way 
you can prevent 
appaaiing by killing tha i 
Most of the fun can be had by 
just wandering around §mmr^h~ 
tng the rooms, end If s so s i Mi 
fying when you manage Id 
obtain a p*Q*. A very impressive 
game. 



/f?0£S 



Midas has also sent six Dwfc 
Pages into the lends The Nether 
World people can only be freed 
from the Book once you have cot- 
lected all of the six mining pages 
and replaced them m the book. 
The six Pages of Darkness must 
be destroyed in order to defeat the 
evil Midas once and for at* 

The Queen transports you, m 
your bed, into the MeartJmd of the 
book and your mission begins. 
Some of the characters have 
turned The* m g / mem to Midas 
and are out to abolish your 
hfetorce — represented by an ever 
changing death mask m the siaius 






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MCtion This diminishes H you're 
doing well, or grows rf you're not, 
TraveHing through Heartland G 
done or foot, so you'll have to 
watch out for the holes which lead 
to carta* death. Throughout 
Heartland things float around 
wtfy-mliV and provkJing you're 
faang either left or right, you can 
jump wto the air to catch them. 
You may at&o travel through doors 
which tead in and out orf the current 
acman and the bed permits travel 
b e tween the many lends of H&Art- 
tand 

Weapons may be picked up. aa 
and when you need them. There 
are three afferent vaherttea; firstly 
the top hat fthr$ is the least power- 
ful of the three and it will take three 
hrts to Kilt any oncoming foe), sec- 
ondly there 'a the krtrvw [thete apt 
3*ightiy mora powerful than the top 
hat but stHi take two hits to annihi- 
late the nasties), fmairy there's the 
fireballs — your most powerful 
weapon of m (one hit is all you 
need with this one kiddies), 

Spetis can be found floating in 
the air, they take several forms, 
and each has its own functions. 
Bubbly spells- are helpful as They 
boost you* lifelorce, Starry spells 
on tf» other hand, dimmish it BJ us 
iperfetoapeiis render you m vulner- 
able to the attaching horde*, how- 
ever for the Limned time that you 
are invulnerable, you will remain 
unable lo pick up any object*. To 



begin the quest you must first find 
a book which float* about on a 
screen near to the one you Start 
on. after that trot on up the stain 
in search of the ftnsl of the ate 
pages But which is it? Is ft a good 
one mat win save the people of the 
Nether World, or an evil one 
devised by Midas? I wonder , . . 



■ This Is a gam* that should 
capture the Imagination of 
everyone, The whole game has 
oodles of rtmoaphec*. the load- 
ing ecrean and tWe music a** 
Itraf rats, and the gameplay la 
second to none. The beet thing 
about HEARTLAND Is that 
amyone should be able to com- 
plete the first level within a few 
games, but should find the 
levels getting progreastvefy 
mor* difficult, a great Incentive 
to keep playing the game. The 
backdrop changes from the gar- 
dan to the moonbase* castle etc, 



making the Whole thing a Joy to 
play, Play ft cm Christmas day 
instead of watching WWy 
Wonka's chocolate factory as 
the whale thing Is Just as much 
fun. 




"*■ V ? ' 


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■*•■■ ' 


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^^^B^BM 



PRESENTATION «2*/ 
Great imtro music and screen. 

GRAPHICS 94% 

Superbly detailed and animated characters. 

SOUND 93% 

MarwoMous tune and neat FX. 

PLAYABILITY 92% 

Easy to gel your teeth unto , , . 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 92% 

... but the puzzles win take some solving. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 90% 

One game that is realty worth ten quid. 

OVERALL 93% 

Another superb release from Odin' 





>REV.IEW&lj 





&¥r 



&**£*> 






and If*'*** 



Mind Games* E9.95 cass, joystick 
and keys 



Holocausts are, quite honestly. 
unpteasani things — no. 
damn rt. itieyne down right horrible 
end nasty end should be avoided 
at an costs Luckily you've man- 
apadtoavcHdrtqutleweWdowfiin 
your kittle ceuer with your betted 
beans and similar supplies of 
nourishment. Something mcredt- 
b*y disastrous has happened, the 
holocaust hes blown open the por- 
tais m space and tune and they 
must be carefully sealed ex else 
Chaos will reign througnoul the 
four dimensions. To achieve th.s 
you wffl need id pacify the Eight 
Minds by returning the*! character 
items lo I hem and in so doing seal 
the portals through time by casting 
the correct Spell. 

Beginning in your tving room 
you mvst locate a weapon, after all 
you can hardly be expected to 
wander through time totally 
unguarded, search every nook 
and cranny — you know behind 
the rata, m robins and ail over the 
shop until you have a suitable 
weapon. With a weapon suitably 
located about your person you can 
then proceed i hrough the rigours 
of lime travel and all that rt entiu l*. 



tSS mind. ******** 



\idLvd 



l r m afraid I'm not k**rt on 
this at all. flight from me 
outset I knew I wasn't 
going to like It The 
instruction manual is far 
to bfcg and unnecessarily 
tedious, and the scenario 
b* so uninteresting to read 
I found myself skipping 
chunks simply because 1 1 
lost Interest. I dkln"! par- 
hculany enjoy the actual 
game etther k the search 
process became very 
monotonous after only a 
short time and did not 
encourage me lo get Into 
the game any further, 
*. if they can 
rts quel toes, 
may ftnd it interesting but 
rt gets a big no-go from 



You will find yOursett transported 
to severe* dearer* tocattons. each 
with their own characteristic land- 
scaping graphics — each one 
means the same boh of proce- 
dure, tramp i ng around searching 
this and that and going through all 
sons of oddments 

in order to complete your quest 
yow must find the specific objects 
which will appease the Minds 
These objects consists of a dag^ 
ger. a helmet, a skull an emerald 
scarab, book, a day doll a map 
and a battle axe. Once you nave 
given these objects to one of the 
Minds tt will cheer him up and he 
will reward you wilh a COupta of 




nines There are 1 5 runes in all. but 
only TO can be carried at any one 
time, and they must be cofnjetty 
assembled in a certain pattern 
Scrota can be located which will 
aid you In the orientation of the 
runes , they will also asekst in teilmg 
how dose you are to having the 
correct pmNonta 

Your character is quit© an agie 
son of chap really, he can wander 
Je*t and nght and clamber up and 



/ffagS 



tf you are to play this one 
nuke mure your brains In I 
memory mode because 
there's a hall ot a lot to 
memorise before you 
even fieri. I constantly 
found myself having to 
pause the game and flick 
through the instruction 
booklet every time I found ] 
something, just to se 
what could be done with 
K. There is also a huge 
amount of time consum- 
ing searching to be done 
wiik-il ran i rnpoe Mif Dy 
having lo flick through the 
menu every other step. I 
Mte the idea of having 
t i me petals a pp e a ring at 
specific times but I found 
that rf you don't watch the 
timer you could acciden- 
tally walk into one. not 
very helpful. I suppose the 
longer you play the easier 
it will become, but myself, 
I lost interest In the early 
stages. 



down ladders as he wishes With a 
little bit of concentration he can 
also leap tn several direction*. fire 
with whatever weapon he has at 
that rime, or enter an options 
menu. This provides facilities to 
search, pick up, put down, use, 
hold or haggle with any of the 
Minds that you may meet 

There are three screens to each 
time zone which you can wander 
around quite happily through the 
doors which Ntter the place. 
Traveling between the various 
time /ones is somewhat more 
difficult as you will either have to 
cast a spell, which means using up 
a precious run* or wan until such 
a time that the portal appears. 
These turn up at regular intervals 
so as long as you're in the right 
place then everything will be okey 
dokey with no more nasty 
holocausts to worry about, welt, el 
least not for the time being 



~tt*vJ 



TIME TRAX has been < 
thought out but I didn'l I 
realty find il addictive 111 
lakes to long to get back 
to where you were after 
being killed. The music] 
gives the whole thing 
great feeling of urgency I 
but p r o gress is anything 
but test There is no 
reward for successfully I 
finding a rune, you could 
have gained an extra 
amumtt of energy or there 
could have been some 
visual recognition, but no, 
you just ptod on and col 
lect the neirt. I'm afraid 
this is one for only the 
m ost dogged of strategy 
fo i ow e rt , For me it's fust 
one big bore. 



PRESENTATION 65% 
tang winded instruction book, boring scenario, 



Nice N "Pretty, rather cluttered, 

SOUND 60% 

The lune is initial^ Km but lends to be tedious after a while. 

PLAYABILITY 58% 

Far too much for a mere mortal to take in. 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 60% 

Jt'l keep you going lot a long tang long long tang ... 

VALUE FOR MONEY 71% 

. . . long long long long time 1 

OVERALL 68% 

A great deal of content, but a tack ol action. 



24 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



THE SACRED ARMOUR OF 





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^^M 



Ho* 



NJ* V 



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Actual 

screen shots 

from the 

Commodore 




for 



tf* 



Al* 



S»* 



<& <?k 



>e 



"*w 



■ 



KEADTHEMUMPf 
»MK THE GAME? 



Available from all good computer game stockists 
or by mail order from Palace Software, 275 
i Pentonville Road, London N1 9NL Send cheque 
or postal order for £8.99 plus 80p p&p 
jft££5 Access and Bar claycard holders phone 01-270 0751 







£k 



ZOMBI 



UBI Soft, £9.95 cass, C14.95 disk, 
joystick mnd keys 






■ ■ ■ .■ ■ 

ASyNUJ 



nor' 



M * 



hat's our fuel like?' 'Not too 
good 1 It we don't find a place 
to land soon, well have to walk. 1 

Looking down into the woods, 
shapes are visibly moving inexora- 
bly toward the tew jacketed men 
carrying hunting guns Each of 
these is trying to defend himserl 
against the onslaught of disfigured 
SJib-homanS- 

Damn Redneck* 1 They're prob- 
atbty enjoying this whole thing IV* 
just one big hunting trip to them.' 

Several minutes go by, the 
woods change into gmelands 
tndftekie. 

'What's that?! shouts Sytvie 
suddenly. There in the distance is 
a large building, with giant car- 
parks and a e e enw igiy unbroken 
perimeter fence 

'We could land on the root and 
lake a look around. ' 

Wrthtn minutes the 'copter 
gentry touches down on the roof of 
the shopping centre. The sudden 
buret of activity alerts the Zombies 
in the car-park who. with swift 
deliberate movements, bead 
straight tor the store entrance 

No wayT exclaimed Patrick 
Lets get out of here before they 
make rt up onto the roof. ' 

Ms alright' said Alexander 
calmly. 'II there was a way up they 



- ZOMBI has an atmosphere 
that will have you believing that 
you're r#alty there. The whole 
thing is so well thought out that 

Sou readily get very involved in 
„ I think that my view of the 
game benefitted by my seeing 
the film, Zombies — dawn of the 
Dead first, and I recommend 
Hut if you can get hold the of the 
vtdeo, do the same. The icon 
syitem was at first a little con- 
fusing but, once mastered, rt 
adds greatly to the game due to 
Hi {prist speed, Speed la very 
important as the whole tiling is 
played in realtime. Now I musl 
get back to the game, Sytvie is 
just trying to lop the head off a 

Kslng Zombie wrth that axe of 
i. Great fun! 



L Greet fun! 



urn- 



would have been here already. 
Let's take a look around and see if 
we can find soma fuei or food, in 
fad anything thai can help us once 
we get upstate. 

Stealthily you make your way 
through a skylight and down sev- 
eral flights of star* unlH you come 



™£>%&J^zz^ ,mMUn 










V~ 




to a locked door. 

'That's why there are none of 
those things abou . . . \ from 
behind there is a howl and you are 
knocked to the ground, Patrick 
swrflty draws his gun and aims it 
siraigni at the twafi of what must 
once have b ee n a maintenance 
worker, Congealed blood, bone 
and brain all Spurt from the front of 
I he falhng crealure'5 face As you 
look ai the motionless body. 
memories of your childhood flood 
back and your mother's words 
Stick m your mind. When there is 
no more room m hell, the dead will 
walk the earth a * » 

Zombi puis you in charge of lour 
people who have fust landed on 
top of & large shopping centre. 
Desperately low on fuel and lood, 
you all decide to try and take over 
the store and use it as a base until 
■*■! can get some fuel Vou need 
l fuel to take you to the only safe 
place you know, which * located 
a long way from your current pos* 
ition You can loot the shops to 
gain weapons and food while try- 
ing to avo*d the numerous Zom- 
bies that are scattered around the 
whole centre, p you have e gun . an 
axe or something equally devas- 



PftTREK 








i:£H " L- 




tatinq. it 3 an easy matter to fcrfl off 
the Zombies and thus be able lo 
Mil PQIfMl MrtMndwul 

Sometimes though, there are 
times When Wmf tUH jump you kM 
cpilcWy for you to be able 10 use 
you* weapon, hand to hand com- 
bat must then commence This is 
done by hammering the keyboard 
or joystick m Decathlon style until 
the km is just a lump of bram mush 
If the Zombie gets the betlti* of you 
then you. quite obviously, die, Oi 
cdurw if One of your group dies. 
this *stiM not the end ofthe story. 
For. exactly hart an hour la iw , your 
dead comi ade wrii get up and start 



ance is now somewnet more a&- 
lurtmgj, the only way to slop him 
whan this happens is lo shoot him 
m the head Met so many bites 
from the many Zombie batlJes that 
you tod yourseH in. you may find 
yourself dying, this of course wiN 
turn you into a creature of the 
night. The only course o* action 
now is to put a gun to your own 
heed end blast away; if you don't 
do it one ol your 'friends' is going 
to anyway 1 
All of these dead bodies that you 




i 



PATRICK 




leave In your wake have only one 
obfecttve — to develop a t trm ngor 
mortis and decay the day away 
To stop things getting too smelly, 
the best thing to do is collect all 
the human debris and dump it in 
the deep freeze with the pork 

Of course all of this is a little to 
easy for a hero such as you. So to 
make things a little more difficult, 
there n an added problem, A 
chapter of Heite Angels have spot- 
ted your helicopter on the roof and 
have had the same idea as you 
about the shopping centre being a 
piece to hide out. They now 
i to mpke their plans on how 



■ This kt more than an arcade 
adventure. I suppose tt could be 
termed as a 'simulation of 
fictional life.' Whatever you 
decide to label it h rt sure la on* 
he! of • game. Up front It can 
look a bit daunting, as there are 
so many icons to use and 
characters to control, but due 
to the immaculate presentatrofu 
you ere left in no doubt as to 
what to do. The theme tune that 
plays half way through Loading 
Is incredibly atmospheric — it p s 
just e pity that rt doesn't play 
through the game. Although ini- 
tially it might strike you as odd 
to have mn adventure game with 
so much joystick pounding in it, 
it really does work, ZOMBI is a 
superb game that deserves to 
do waft* i 



they are going to get m , and m turn 
put you out. One redeeming fea- 
lure Of thrs event is that the bikers 
have the much needed fuel that 
you want, so all your merry band 
have to do i* to take on a hundred 
or so very well bmrt. mean, hungry 
and homocidal maniac bikers — a 
piece of cake! 

An icon system is used to con* 
tro* the characiers, and by man- 



P3JIE@Q^ 



iputahon of the many symbols you 
can create quite complicated 
commands. A vtaual representa- 
tion of an locations is shown on the 
left hand side of the screen, while 
on the light is a portrait of the cur- 
rently controlled character and 
Iheir Current status, Strength, food 

and health. 

The movement pattern is quite 
strange as you must seiecl the 
movement icon, and you are pre- 
sented by a three dimensional 
box, Ptckjng any one of the sm 
sides will move you m that d*ec- 




ZOMBI, we arc lold is the best 
M i ng game In France at the 
moment, and on first sight I 
couldn't see why. But after a 
good session with H I found rt 
totally engrossing, I'm not quite 
sure which category it falls into, 
as ft is a well impre^ive blend of 
adventure and arcade action. It 
must be the only game I 1 ve seen 
that follows the plot of a film 
near enough exactly ■ and a good 
knowledge oi the him in ques- 
tion comes in jolly handy. I low 
the way you have a choice 
whether to fight or run when you 
encounter a zombie, and if you 
choose to fight rt off, then there 
is no end to the methods which 
you can employ to do so. You 
can even batter it with a previ- 
ously terminated zombie ri 
you're the ironic kind. An excel- 
lent game well worth anyone's 
money. -. 



/fc^ 



lion if that is possible 

Failure in your mission presents 
you with a great end screen mat 
shows the four characters as Zom- 
bies with a giant skull m the 
background, but surely its not 
worth dying just to see that! 



, b^e of icons 



Well del led and uncM* 



I goi confusing. 



Superb theme tune — no in gome tune. 
PLAYABILITY 93% 
Simple, uncomplicated use of controls. 



compelling until the end. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 92% 

For the length crl time it will occupy you. well worth it, 

< 

A supetb Innovative and unusual _ 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 966 27 




>BEV.IEW& 



HdJII 



^ttn 



3D qmih of« becoming 
i iittie old hat now. 
though there I* still room 
for * flood on*. Wrthj 
SEPULCRI, Afloteuft 
have produced an excel-] 
lent varaion o* an old con- 
cept. The whole thing 
reminded me very much 
of ALIEN 8, tH 
have the imped that It 
had when it amwed two 
year* ago The U*k* ate 



35 



to 
the scraeci but 
you have to be 
about how 
you 90 about doing H 
Overall ft 4 * Just a good 
version on e deeefc 
ttieme,iodii»uchwou>d 
heve been better priced 
around the six pound 




Arfolasoft, Ee.95 cass, £14.95 disk 



In the year 2075 the first Strategic 
Defence Initiative Satellite was 
constructed but being in its provi- 
sional stage of development ri was 
found that it could not be tasted 
without starling the war rt was 
designed to prevent. This was 
beginning to be a rather large 
problem until some bright spam 
down at the space depertrrwnt 
decided met they would put a 
robot inside the works, This was 
no ordmary robot for it was snored- 
ibry smai enabling it to run around 
inside the seteNde and examine ai I 
The circuit boards and compo- 



nents To add to the problems one 
Of the more Stupid technicians at 
the space department 
miniaturised some mate sheep 
and put them in the works instead 
Of the more conventional RAM 
although seemingly lifs- 
wN destroy our poor little 
mechanised buddy. To add further 
to the many problems our* hero has 
many sensors m his feet so if he 



/f?0£S 



I'm net a greet follower of] 
3D ^am*t, in fact I'm not 
a follower at ell. Bui rmvw 
the leu SEPULCRI does 
e certain affinity, 
it's bright, wei 
graphics and 
each room be+ng s dtffe- 
colour, The task on 
other hand sounds 
it is A lot of 
practice is r teada d H you 
wish to ovoid lending on 
objects 
l run up li u 

A nice gam* but 
not one for 



Zl^^c i 



L ,.-.- 



28 AMTIX Christmas Special 



No matter how many 3D 
games I see I stiH enjoy 
them and, although 
wouldn't lash out the full 
nine quid lor it, I'm quite 
happy to sit down and 
play It for what it is. Thai 
g i apreo* are rather jolry, 
especially the cute little 
robot who has a marvell- 
ous expression on his 
face. or. front panel, 
any 3D game ITi 
you hours el Am 
once 01 twice, but unless 
you get hooked H 1 * just 
another 30 game — albert 
■ good One at that, 

lands on anything sharp ha will self 
destfuct. 

Once a defect \% located m the 
satellite our little robot must signal 
to the outside controllers. This Is 
dona by lumping on one of fifty dip 
switches to be found in the works 
After all this is completed he musi 
then make his way to the second 
pan, the RQTTTS {Rtficuiously 
Over The Top Exit Security} The 
security people at the space 
department, being the suspicious 
persons they en 

1986 



that little robot must send his 
highly lop secret exit code to the 
controllers There are ten code 
posts' which our hero has to 
change to spell out the words 
LEnvtEOUTOK' 

Guide your robot around the 
rooms jumping where necessary 
to land on the switches. When you 
land on a switch the screen will 
flash and ifre colour of the switch 
will change. Avoid anything that 
moves You may stand on the 
integrated circuits but you find 
yourself sliding rjti some of them. 
Dnce you have found yout way 



kvto the Rottes you will have to 
workout wtvch is the first p*itar on 
the left m order 10 spelt out the 
code word- To change the letter 
on the pillar senpfy move Closer to 
it but not loo close or you wiJl suf- 
fer a somewhat sizzling million volt 
death And atier ail that, just u 
!he exit 

To make mapping easier there 
is a screen dumping facility, allow- 
ing you to print out the room on 
screen (Amstrad and Epson 
printer compatible). 

Good luck MINIBOTS you'll 
I 



NTATION 80% 

Witty scenario, nice demo. 

GRAPHICS SS*/o 

Well defined, very UltimateMSh 

SOUND 60% 

Too simple, but nice title lune 

PLAYABILITY 78% 

Easy once you ' ve got the hang of jumping? 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 85% 

Not a lot to do, but not easily clone, 

VALUE FOR MONEY 69% 

A little pncey 

OVERALL 68% 

Just another 30 game with a Hffla more. 








lnfogrames f 
£9.95 cass, 
£14.95 disk 



Cast your minds back, if you 
can, to the good <M days of 
cftidhood end m particular to 
whan your parents were out 
Remember the babysitters? 
Remember all Those nasty i rucks 
you used to ptoy Ofi them? You 
didn'r Well now's you* chance 10 
make up for it 

You play the part of Valentin, the 
naughtiest of nippers, and as luck 
should have it your parent* have 
gone away for the weekend. 
Dnflort watery thay have employed 



//)&& 



One thirty this game car- [ 
taMy kiirt and that's dull. j 
The Q r apM ca and an*me- " 
Hon are very colourful! 
indeed and I Just love the 
way Alfreds face turns I 
aright red when he walks I 
into one of the traps. The 
greet beauty of this game 
is that you don't heve any 
limitations cm what youj 
can do to poor old Alfred. 
Once the game has been 
played a few times you 
toon get used to what 
traps Alfred has fallen for 
by the points you receive , 
the trick \% remembering 

where *f wee and from 
which direction Alfred will 
come. It's so satisfying 
when you know that one 
of your trap* has been 
walked Into. A reeWy fun 
game for everyone! 

the services of Alfred M artinien, a 
rattier short tempered babysitter, 
to fook after you m their absence 
Turing with your toys and being the 
devious sort of chappy you are you 
deade thai the only course of 
action left 10 you is to play practical 
jokes on the unsuspecting Alfred 
Something that proves to be not 
as easy as it sounds 

Your house is a rather large one 
with thirty rooms and around these 



■y£Rnx*g/ 



4^V 



The standard of game* 
thai pour In from over die I 
Channel Is still high, and 
0N£ onry goes to prove I 
that It's original, if* chal- 
lenging and, best of all, I 
If a highly amusing. Thai 
tricks are only limited lo I 

Eir hnaabtattan and too- f 
I thought for that mat - 
ter. M you enjoyed the kind ' 
of humour that made SPY 
vs SPY to popular then 

take a look at this, you 
woft't regret It. 




H*,U 



At Ifrat eight the Idea 
just running around trying I 
to upset the babysrtier 
may se e m a little boring, 
but after a tow games you 
become much mora devt* I 
ous In your traps, and the j 
fun Increases proportion 
atefy. L don't raelfy think I 
that ONE compares too 
wen wtth SPY v SPY but It | 
is both amusing to watch 
aa veal at to play. The 
whole family could join in r 
each person thinking 
the trap to try next 



up 



there are scattered various objects 
that can be used to play the prac- 
tical Jokes Objects such aa 
Banana skins mat Alfred can sJfc> 
on, Garden rakes that he walks 
into. Buckets of water, Balloons, 
Stones and Custard pies that can 
be thrown at him„ The onry prob- 
lem ts that once Alfred has fallen 
for one of your tricks he becomes 
red faced and very Irate He will 
then run around trying to find you 
and if he catches up with you, 
you're sure to get a good spank- 



ing. So the tnck is not only setting 
up the practical jokes but making 
sure that you don't waJk into them 
yourself, and don't get caught. 

Once Vaterttin has found an 
object he puts it m one Of his ten 
pockets and carries it around with 
him until he wishes to use rt ft. on 
the other hand, he get* caught ha 
seems to go into shock after the 
beating from Alfred and the onry 
way he is able to move again ts for 
him to drop all the objects in his 
possession. Those will then dis- 



perse themselves around the 
rooms The mote intricate the 
practFcaJ joke the more points you 
score and also the longer Alfred 
slays angry at you. If you manage 
to stay away from Alfred, once he 
has walked into your traps, he 
soon calms down and forget* 
about it This, of course, depends 
on how bad the fOke was in the first 
place. 

There are no ttmrts to how devi- 
ously sneaky you can be, so go 
ahead and rum Alfreds day! 



PRBSBNTATION 68% 


Frantic attach mode. generally good 


GRAPHICS 73% 


Bright and beautiful. 


SOUND 69% 


No theme lime, tew FX. 


PLAVABILITY 79% 


Being nasty «s no much more luo 


ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 78% 


The more devious you are. the longer you'll play 


VALUE FOR MONEY 74% 


, Would be better a few pounds cheaper. 


OVERALL 77% 


Naughty but nice' 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 $86 29 




w 



T~T 



ffl 




— N. 



FootbderoftheYear 



■ft r « 



'm:iw ^ '*■ 






iilMii-^^ 






|4tp» 






m First Division 

nts and opted to 

lay with Rovers. 

This prqntislfi 

cw nrorbaek has 

turn menage D 
| Thorp* annoy 
today. ^ 






DEBUt 



Co*. *ttr L v , 



ilh 



% 



mi K&i 
Dmk 1 




■for 
tecon 

BANKS 



for!2i 
injury, brj 
urate form 
Nl urcndi 



M ' 



He 
^ City arc 

nn kfac 

rcJucuni , q 






iUMMKS ,4/ffi4i 



Footbste of the Year Fi 

CI6 + 4 MSXSpwtnint 

,£6.95 £7.95 * 

Amitrtd. BBCHertro 
Auri C8M64 128 







Avenger 
GKMCM 




ificr fKN 1 
vjin trifle 

"i*dcptfd 
flttf of on 5TS1 
^jmaUims the 

proUknoia kh.._ 
W nf league hiitorvT 




ft*! 



i 






Avenger (Wayoflhe Tiger 0) 




Wayt t 




Alpta 



How- 10 




OOF THEIR TIME 



Futore Knigtit Trai&zer 

CI* + 4 MSX Sped/urn 4BK 

5 £6.95 £7.95, 

CBfl 64-128 
Am*tr*d 

£9.95 



Disk 

120 ArtndDMc 

4$H CM U 12ft 

Duk 

*5£14S 



BAH— 



y*^ 



T«* 






\ 








FutucKfi^it 



ttiBf 



<«**» 



r*> »0t J* « 

to 







U<lVTU 



"J 



# 



tut, 

15MB Td (07421 7»«3 




TAPE TO DISC AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON 

WITH THE PERIPHERALTHAT ALL AMSTRAD 
OWNERS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 

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FEATURES 

* E at re me i v easy to use 

* Transfer ANY program to disc Of tips lit the 

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* Fully automatic saving of ANY program onto 

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* Freeze ANY game at any point save ir and 

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* Menu driven with prompts and Single character 

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software rrjqui red 

* The display window size can be set up to suit 

any program 




FEATURES: 

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* Very powerful and efficient compressing 

to use MINIMUM space on your disc or 
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* Through conned Of for adding other peripherals 

* FAST. SLOW * TURBO speed options wtien 

saving lo lap* 

* Handles expansion Roms end all paging modes 

* Can be used without disc interface ICPC 464 

* Display dolours can now be set up as required 



The Most R evolutionary and Exciting Peripheral for 
all Amstrad CPC464, CPC664 and CPC6128 Owners. 

The Mtrage imager must be the smartest peripheral yet" Amstrad User. 
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(0376) 48321 

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Available from good retailers everywhere 
for only £49-95 




32 AMTlX Christmas Special 1 986 







.REVJEWS* 



■ JiM'll 



T 



Electric Dreams, £9*35 cass, Joys- 
tick or keys 



STOP PRESS: Synthetic man 
changes nappy'* 11 
Amid much speculator* and 
controversy ft was revealed today 
that The Machine Sorcerer, 
Werdkx*. has finally created 
organic We m hta gtontic 
Mechlabs The e*fcstsnce of mteili- 
flerrt fleshy forma was only 
tftsonsed by some of the rrrosi 
powerful computers on our 
machine planet, but now it seems 
that ail the speculation was well 
founded. When asked whether the 
new forms represented a threat to 
our world the WarcHock quite 



r72&S 



The graphics in PRODIGY ] 
mrw wry good end 
sound, how can I put It, t* ] 
pleasantry drff erenW 
the game totally failed tol 
Interest me. It's probably 
net the first time I've said | 
this, but there are 
few 3D games that Oel 
enjoyed playing and r 
sorry to say this isn't one I 
of them The idea behind 
the game Is good but the 
way rt has been executed 
leaves a lot to be desired. 
The game play la too 
slow, and dragging that 
wretched child around 
does nothing but hinder 
I don't like 



tr 



olearry sekj that his crwtioris were 
securely locked instde Mi 
Machine and would never make 
contact with the outside. 

A tour of the MecMabs revealed 
the security to be unsurpassed 
■nd any fears of escape are totally 
unfounded. The Good Sorcerer 
took us for a tour of hts massive 
labs which are -split into four sec- 
tions, the ICE ZONE . VEG IE ZON E . 
TECH ZONE and FIRE ZONE. 



Bouncing around the Zones we 
witnessed some of the failed and 
less successful creations of the 
W&rdbck, the eerie QJobswels 
and less unsettling Sloberities, 



PRODIGY could 
been an excellent game*] 
great concept, appealing | 
and 
Unfortunately thai 
vast concept Is so intft-l 
cat* that it slows most of I 
the action down. And 1 1 
must agree wtth Anthony I 
that It all that ruddy I 
baby's fault. I mean If we I 
didn't have that little peat 
toddling so slowly than It 
would be Hn*. Thar* are a 
few neat sections to the 
maze 1 ike the Ice palace, 
where you tend to slide 
awry where end the poor 
baby gets so confused. In 
aN, If you fancy a 3D puz- 
zle adventure than this 
might be worth checking 
out, but If you Ve In a racey 
mood then steer clear. 

until finally at the moat secure 
point m the lab we found the two 
nasi arrivals Both were of 
humancwd form, one named Mejo, 
a baby specimen who seemed to 
i ety on a larger Synheman, synthe- 
tic man. named Solo, The 
Wardkx* toW us that many more 
experiments would need to be car- 
ried out before any further 
developments could be made. 

Found tw^ was a extract that 
had fallen from Solo's diary 'How 
long i have been trapped in this 
nightmare I don't know, but now a 
new form has joined me in this 
prison maze the greater is the 
urgency thai we escape. The new 
term Je a baby who follows me 
everywhere, needing constant 





attention, feeding,, showers and 
protection from the Ward&ocfcs 
many tailed experiments. To this 
purpose I have devised a way of 
escape. This is by feeding random 
dele Into the War dtocks terminals 
and so disengaging the security 
System I have also discovered 
that the door to the outside world 
can be opened using four power 
keys, placing each one within the 
teckfre. The tefeport system has 
now become operational and 
should help us to get between the 
four zones and keep us a step or 
two ahead of the Wardlocfc. My 
handcrafted bubble gun is work- 
ing welt and although not powerful 
enough to harm the failed flesh 
experiments it gives them a httie 
incentive to move away, Some- 
how we must escape into space 
and try to And other organic life 
forms before the Wardiock starts 
to experiment with u& 

The game starts with you con- 
trolling Solo with either the keys or 
joystick. In an Utttmeteish type 
game. You begin msjde the 
Meditate with your young prodigy 
following behind. The screen 
shows a view of one of the 
Wardlocks, about which rs shown 
the four security system indicators 
{the rotating cubes). At the top or 
ihe screen are three indicators 
showing the current state of Nejo's 
food, his nappy and Solo s oxygen 
suppiy. When these get low it ts a 
good idea to get oxygen balloons 
Which are scattered about the 
maze, take Nejo to a shower to 



dearihisnappyorteedhimwrtna 

bottle The bottles have to be 
chefs using the bubble gun 



, not 



Urns It i 



This game is hard, 
It is too fast, i 
the mortal! 
you to death, endl 
the maze ls| 
tTsbecua 
baby* Most of 
rt refuses to j 

luai foHow* I 
rt bumps kitol 
or puehee you into! 
monsters. The way that 
you apeefl beck to the 
Start of a section on 
touching an alien Is quit* 
unner v ing at first due to 
the spaed that you whizz 
back through the mmm* 
Having said that the game 
is quite nice bu* tup to 
the standard ... _jy the 

Ultimate 3D games which 

M * ■ i , j ' i- — ■-_ , * , 
nee mto to recreate* 

Overan the beet pert of 

the gemeie the plot which 

seems to I 

on s wry tacky | 



Getting out is no simple affair as 
you must find Security unrts and 
take them to the Computer control 
centre and so facilitate Solos 



[NTATION aS°/o 

Helpful instructions, both on mlay and screen 



ExoeJient, weH defined and cwefutry thought out 

SOUND 70% 

Wierd. but a great introduction tune 

PLAYABILITV Ott V* 

Difficulty caused by slow trailing baby 



You may be interested to fintsh the game. 

VALUE FOR MONEY B9% 

Little excitement for a tenner is a bit much. 

OVERALL. 68% 

A great concopt that doesn't work to the tui.- 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 9&6 33 




-*tfi* 



NERVOUS MOMENTS FOR 
A SHROPSHIRE LAD 

inlet is closing in faM here at AM 1 1 V I uwers and our 
new adventure hero, ROBSTrH. i-twv.io>lv stand 
ing in the sideline* waiting to reveal his First reviews, 
Rob restdea m Shropshire and like* nothing better than 
w ruling away the smalt hours of the night with a good 
adventure Over to you Rob 

Ye*, thank you very much, whoever you were 1 As 
Scan ha* departed in pasture* new I have Mopped into 
iho yoid left b% hjm T wUltr) nofl tOgftMCMddOtvfl 
4 ni i."* the whirlpool too quickly but you will have to excuse fne if I reel 
mv way gently tor j while fn joying a good adven; 'in- ihmg, 

wnnnjj about it is another matter entirely Anyway space is at a pre- 
mium in the mega C hnstmjs ip^oal so I l -in only include two review*, 
one about a mmfe, the other about a popular radio show* There go* 
you guessing havenl I 1 

Any correspondence in future,, whether it he home grown material, 
or contribution* for Arcane, should be sent to me a I AMTIX! Tower*. 
PO Bo* 10, LUDLOW, Shropshire SYfl IDB 





AdittHm 
I 



from the St 
Andes' School do not usu- 
ally impress me. I always find 
myself loading their games with 
Mine trepidation Tneir style of 
humour El either very childish — 
the Culiey Bull in very flijj On* 
Admturr for example — or so 
obscure as to render me totally 
baffled. 

BujpV. I fear is nn mvption 
Sub-titled — The struggle of one 
smalt rabbit to build a successful 



career in I he tascinahng world ol 
organised crime, you ptiy the role 
ot Hti^*.v Maroon, a pate blue 

tvpe rabbit, wrtoh g 
the game by being killed offl 

However, as this is an adven- 
ture, Trixie, the well known cave 
adventure**, informs our brave 
bunny that it's no hardship to die 
in an .id venture game and up 
scrolls the "do you want to try 
again 7 J message Enter YES and 
oft we g* ■ 




i 4i t! 



Trim 4a 

Vol*. M«nt 
Vou man 
M* ti* i*» da 



34 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



lb* tit* barbt- 




* S*pius ait th* 

* raLbbit'- Aiiotb 
t for uiuvprsal 



L#t's &## 



t*duc«i ion 
if uv can pot 



Sudd#nl4 %&m> 
Hfy , ctai t * m h 

Tl>» hoods dr^u tli*»ir turns* 

Btforf I know it, G itorn of bullets 4* 
fcingtnq around nu not mcontpicuoui 



It's Chicago in 1^22 Vou are in 
a streel ol sepia, outside 
DevineyS har Dare you enler 7 
Moving around the streets of the 
wlndv iilv cues across 

paper hns \Wh buying buyf). i 
barber" s shop with a redT and 
white striped pole outside I the 

fi has | List had his hair cut If of 
lo' Ho 1 ), a gunsmith's, railway 
Malum, tlu-atricai I costumers etc, 
tii 

h soon becomes apparent thai 
In get \m in the game vou need to 
make a fast 'buds' (Oft no — 
they've bd4 fni- at it now) Huts 
ever, trying to rob certain estab- 
lishments w 1 1 hou t su liable 
hardware is I ^|Liick way to meet 
the local prisivn warden — "Hi* 
Lm swarma in hke aots and 
it'*, hack 10 ihr [moh t«» K*coine 
trdnm^l i t| Lie nee 

How « an Hugsy get sulhoenf 
IX*v' (sorry^ — its catching) to 
buy the pM .ihle hir> 

hold up the pt^st of lite, or lo litre 
up a cos-tume cvrhaps to allow 
sale entry mlo TVviney's — I'm 
not saying. 

The game is quilled and illuv 
[rated in colours which art* 
reminscenl or a pavement pi//a 
alter a rough night a I I he local 
fopKtocd PWaci the mi only 
mode, though, i* a lompanti' 
soothing grey on hi a* k 

The vocabulary is small what 
would you expect from a rabbit?. 
not recognising such traditional 
words as help, lift, push, pull. 
turrip insert, wave «fc, ana the 
phrase "sorry kid, ya jus* 
Ht retched my vocabulary 10 burst - 
ffbtt point' 4 , appears much too 

often 

1\u> game uitkidi's a "great 
new menu-driven conversation 
i k m ". TTii-^ allows the player to 
talk to any person who happens 
to Ih* in his particular I or at ion 
Type in "Talk t^uard" lor exam 




rii *.Ah"> the intlructwin to hil 
eybonra 4 An4 up pops the mini 
menu, Vou can then 
Bup- marl mouth con ver 

iatfon' with the guard usin>; 
kev inpui C tor greet. I 
bnW. * lot ^wit'i talk and soon< 
Thi^ sikin became frustrating due 
to its limitation-, all hough the 
insults are tunny — at bast the 
Tarsi time around 

I got the teeJ i ng that I had penned 
this adventure hall n ogh 

and seemed to have missed some 
imcK^rtaiit p! 

dtrticull t«' Rl an v when- (typical 
St Bndes 1 ht n« obtain any uscfuJ 
rmation from mv surroynd 
ings p olhef characters, or ?li. 
- rxa mine command 

I Soon became disinterestL-d in 
Bogsy's devtinv and pulled the 
p]ue on him To quote the game 
itsA'li ne. voti'vr seen them 

all' 



Atmosphere 


48% 


Plot 


45% 


Interaction 


28% 


testability 


39% 


Value for Money 


40% 


Overall 


4t% 




OSAIC an J LEVEL 9 h-am 
i up once again to bnng you 
another 'choose ow of me tol- 
towing:" pames 

hmc you are place J m the 
lion i*t scriptwriter fef IV 
Aartkmt I hat well known, long 
running Radio 4 tale ot country 
folk and their doings (enough to 
make an y ad venturer t| u 1 1 1 

iti four parts m 

wh>ch the player lake* th- 

fir her [acLi Wollev. Eluabeih 

fddie Grundy or Ni.'Uun 

Gabriel. You then hire lo make 

decisions about particular situa- 



Iions Imm the ihree option^ 
given, in order to boost audience 
Minims siilluii-nllv In gain artVtt 
to tht- ne*l part (f.HOCMlOO in pari 
one). 

The mLiy card contains the 
intul irwinulwtn and 

background, plus tats of info eon- 
OCnwhg the characters vou may 
come across during your numher- 
tappnjk; exploits. Screen by out is 
typical' Level 9 — graphics 
occupying thf lop ihird with an 
Option to turn them of! j] soon 
cfid)„ and lots of scrolling text to 
inwardly digest. 



^ai»izi*--i 



\ 



rxcludvd irofi nrrtm 
thAi I an not iota 1 1 

^dn* of the oihtn *r 



I an convinced 

lovf Pi* if I b 
Chooi# ani of 
l> 40111 the da 
2> join a fitn 

J> cycl* to th 



m.r*rcf;».. 



that Til* Brrchan would 

!C«Mt tv»n ft tier - 



ir I btciAt ?¥*" fittrr 
one 0/ the following! 

thf ballet clan; 

a iitntti club; 
e to the leoh tv#r« day. 



e shop is losing «ovn»-* ' H»j 
uys Martha ** slow ami 
I iiv. "Just like British 
Hav# a good laugh : H**. 
iivi it is not a lau^hm-i 



-i^iivive. I iiv, ^Juft lik 

a 1 I ■ " and have a good taug 
ccountant ^i^i it is not a 
1 a t ter . 
i cfc one of a 

it into a *up*f-na 

to *irl I the shop J 



After searching my innri-muM 
bem>; In ensure selechon ol the 
correct option offered (and think- 
ing "why is ihii in the adventure 
section 7' v >, it did wem that 
although I might choose a certain 
option lo resolve a problem, 
(should ! huvihe ^HiMsiir sti« k lo 
mv iiluj^tk t ind brace* for the 
voga class*!, [he pa me could ras- 
ily ignore me. ana then plump for 
one of its own 

Every so often a memo from the 
l1 redded controller aj RediO I 
sneaky onto the? screen fhis 
ihh-rms you ot the number of 
people who currently tune into 
vour programme and, depend l hi 
on this figure, t he con I ml ler either 
sends you best wishes or instruct* 
v on to pull your socks up 

Should vou succeed in main- 
taining I balanced program nu\ 
*uch as interest, and realism, and 
increasing your aud 
million lo 3700,000 vou will have 
reached the em- Hon one 

And be asked ^ you would like to 



continue on it* part two rrrson- 
ally I tuuldn I tace it. 

,;dme includes a "demo and 
help modt'\ and the usual tetnl 
load posilk»n iM\\\\\ You may 
j|s(t make a typed fistm^ o( the 
'^an unfolds' using vour 

printer 

I have never listened to I he 
Archers tamp* and senals, apart 
from taftbif nasty, do not red II v 
interest me This/ however I 
reason why I should And ihr 
Atchm I«a than inspiring — but 
I did. To I how oJ yuu Prhm 
enjiPViHi Adrian Mule ihis rna v hold 
some 1 merest — I womjvr what 
I'm missing out on? 



Atmosphere 


42% 


Plot 


40% 


Interaction 


18% 


Instability 


41% 


Value for Money 


50% 


Overall 


45% 




ALUEQ aWiMTUflf RS INC. 

Rey UniMtar prdi si Time, Gdd»- 

... 1 : r-u^r,-, itertvsnfKtirH fvr&i 

plete H el p 01 1 5 pvlW n • 1 « Fjdl , 



KrmzlH' 



Rd, l p tiolr r Unr^eL 



f I v^flt ftrrirrn li» ^.Ji ..'. f rm'taU 

IVirrJJ '^f Fi.r Tarr/iT^iij [>uirrri»Pi«f, T^r 

24 r Wilhngdon Park Drive, 
MdnipdVn Fjrk, E jsthi>urne<, E. 
Su-^ti, BN22<>B € i 

rim C.junwv .Vcrer J lutttig Slvry t 
J h- 1 /. if ieir p (VrfriiNril. Hffwm -f K*m ; 



^>&$efrim AntimmeitetCkd- 

10, Garwyn Ave, Round wood, 
Mrliden r Prestatyn, Owyd, fS 
1VjIp* f LL 19 

Sam Meld rum 

Whiles Hill, Amefmham Rd, 

IlTilrflld, Buck*, KPl 2VC. 

Jnhn M. M=:i.il.! ftu«t¥ HUde 
K.-inhiu- rrl AMDRlhK; fartiirte 
I, ll^h Sf r I liehv South Hum- 
oersLd,, DN^6TC, 

PwWktfta '4'nturePnohe 

F arudrie diu Adventunf 

r telpliti-et 

n, Holtiitgton Wav. Wig^n 

WNH1S 

iohnR Bam sl< 

ihtng — Amitrad bastsd or not! 
n* Rffrrtvale Rd. Rising Brook, 
Stafford. St*ffj, ST17 9F8 

Simon Martinez Thf Lord or 
^jFf^ihtvth parts ] and 2 

r^rrf fvmt Uh 
2 VrrnttilJ Close, OH Fernhill 
Drive # Liverpool, LSI LB 



PS I alto Have 4 map of the fewest 
route th much the Minn of Morij 
in Lord of trie Kings. 

Simon Pfcvi-v f\*mt Ai Won 
ItWb Of Bal>L 

&*p$&nagt {stand 

22, Selkirk Street, Chaddeftdon, 

Derby, DEJ frCL . 

\eed help on tlunMnck — Vw 

ftdiY iitutr and 

Simon MarshaU /.efrfw £* fifne, 
rirrws Of Krlm, Affrajpr f raw 

23 SpnnB&eld Way. Stockton 
Unt York H YO» OHN fTel 
42400S) 



^f rff toy* re ni e t i ihr ff to sr^ M 
SAEf 

If vou want tu beaddeni iu the lr-i 

nil- in and lelJme whi 
Itames s-i>u can help ivith and 
rememWr to ajvi "*illf\ame 

JJres^. pi lotirse ftnyimt^ 
\u\ rips you land m my lap COOid 

Oil iwenlv pounds inorlh o4 
Amstrad stirtv 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 35 





















1 


^ 1 








d»KD| 




w ] 




Spectrum in October, Aimtrad in November, Commodore 64 in December. 



£995 



■■ 



Sales 



Cist It- Lodge, Caifle Green 
Taunton, Somen ct TAT 4AF 
England t ^^ .. - r**jjn**** * *«• 



■■ ^^ j* jM » » i 




R R.P, £9.95 



Spectrum & Amstrad 
available November 20th 

Commodore 64 
available January 20th 

Trade enquiries to Centretoft 

on 021 356 3388 

Saleidept., 

Castle Lodge, Castle Green, 
Taunton, Somerset TA1 4AB 
England r**«pfww{*tjjii+u*ift44z* 






M^\ /! 






i/ 



p 






I 


ifi 






pi 


1 




^^PHM^^ 


^^* 1 


1 


• 1 Im\ J^flllLH * 


d 



Copies of 

FIRELORD 



CITY SUCKER 
and a poster 

for 25 
runners up 




And something to keep your tapes in 



Andrew Hewson i* rightly proud of 
his latest release Fntard which 
has you eraconeed in the land of 
Tarot Naturally enough, you are 
the two, &r Gaftaheart the brave 
Fireiard, who ha* been generously 
vol u nteer ed 10 the rob of saving the 
land from the vile and evil Queen 
who has 5wmi talked a dragon 
into giving her the Firestone with 
which she can n m t fireballs around 
must to the consternation of the 
local singed peasants 

&r GMtheart must trot around 
and cottect an the elements of a 
speN of elemal youth by hook or by 
crook with which to trade tor the 
retum of the Firestone, 

An etemai youth spdi coukJ do 
renwfcflbty well at AMTW Towers, 
Now if I had one 1 could make the 
ultimate trades wrth the wheezing 
hacks here. 

Malcolm would pay greatly for 
eternal youth and after just one Sip 
of the ehwr he could probably 
the confines of his 195ti 
executive beth chair and with a 
hop, skip and a jump, leap into 
action as Newsfteid's most 
energetic and professionally ram- 
pant editor. 

Richard Eddy doesn't need 
eternal youth as he's lorever run - 
rung around being far too joHy. 
Skipping <nto wonV at 7,30 each 
mommg whilst everyone aJse are 
still straining to open their cereal 
packets. Richard would have wy 
little use for such a potion as he 
displays the character of the 
youngest and brightest AMTIX 
minion of all of us. Perhaps he 
could be threatened with the elixir 
as after just one quaff he'd proba- 
bly become a bom again reviewer 
aged about eleven months. He 
might still be useful as a youthful 



reviewer and the darling of the 
software companies (he cans ail 
the girlies -petal') but l don't think 
anyone would want to have to 
Change his nappies after all the 
bOttySQuim y food tie eats in a day f 

Saffron would be very interested 
m my wares as she shows great 
delight in knowing whatever's 
going on in the office, especially if 
flare's a chance of her picking up 
a piece of whatever's going, Also. 
the idea of her never aging and 
therefore not having to spend any 
of Mr rn&gr* salary on copious 
amounts of Oil of Rosehip with 
which to keep the wrinkles at bay. 
would definitely mean that shrd 
want to put her bid in 

Tony would also want to get his 
sweaty little mitts on my potion if 
only to e*smme it thoroughly and 
break it down into its constituent 
components and see what makes 
it lick. Had be most interested m 
having an eternally young and 
therefore stete-oMhe-arl compu- 
ter at hi* immediate disposal. 

What you're a* saying is what 
can we do for you i n order to enter 
the competition. Well, what l want 
you to do is to give me a list of what 
each member of the team would 
offer me m order to be (or not to be 
thai is the Richard Eddy question) 
the owner $1 the- y ouih giving brew. 
Remember each member of the 
team can only offer me one item *n 
trade for the oh x ir and so you must 
also give me the reason why you 
ihmk that particular person should 
receive it. 

Send your entnss on nothing 
bagger than M (which rs 210mm i 
300mm) to 1 WANNA BE THREE. 
AMTIX', PO Box 10. Ludlow. 
Shropshire, SYS 1DB to arrive 
hira no taler than January 8lh 






**«w«riF 







SS*. 



km f i 



n=*n 





THE HEAT IS ON! 

Get spellbound - and hot - with this unique medieval arcade adventure 

Another fas (-moving, richly animated scorcher from 1985 s Programmer o/ the Year, 
Steve Crow - author ot 'Wizard's Lair " end Starquake \ 




ivr 




i 1 



* 



I 




COMMODOffF CASSETTE: ' 



AMSTRAD DISK; E 
COMMODORE DISK I 



1 





ftm G* ** a«*Y f**chaw 



v 








tail Ode* se-nd a rheoue P D to 

i ecraJtont* LW Oder by Credit 

seguing you Acce» Bcyciayroia 

. ana a ipecimoT' rignaftjiw Darn 

i ericfose yOuf r>omi> and adc*«£ 




MiHan, Abngdvi Oxan QXM*an* 



-.. ft!* -.TtfrA,!* 



WIN A HOLIDAY 
COURTESY OF 
INCENTIVE t 



I 



te©M^lH ; 'g )T j 



\ I 



i / 





i 






Co**: 



To coincide with rheir latent 
l iWM i of Winter WorKtorfand 
and Apache GokJ which is the first 
INCENTIVE game to &e released 
uroer the MEDALLION fab*. 
which is me bes* oi £WCed 
ad veneres INCENTIVE are offer 
ing exclusively to New$fie*d PuOii- 
cdtton readers (he chance to win 

eeoo «wth of holidays to two 







mnersupwin 



piece of paper to 
swop for any great 
CENTIVE game. 







IWAMTAHOTORCOLD 



Y JUST WHAT DO I HAVE TO 00? 




I 



Oh so you're interested are you. 
Okay, well as INCENTIVE are wdi 
known for their adventures <ind 
especially for bfmgtftg adventure 
ma^ng to the noo-proqrwvnere 
thanks to their Graphic Adventure 
Creator what Uncle Ian wants you 
to do is answer a simple adventure 

puzzle, 

You ere sitting tn front Of your 
blank TVac/eea You enter N to go 
North ana find the temperature 
&Q&& end route m Winter Won- 
dertand so to warm up a Mie you 
enter £ to go Best, Wow* you've 
Hound thegokj^ Apache Gckittmt 
is, Youdecfdelotoeati beck to your 
TV $o input the appropriate com- 
mend* to retum trie way you 
came 
NOW THE QUESTION IS - 



WHAT'S ON TV THIS EVENING? 



WINTER 
WONDERLAND 




1 



Send your answers to HIGH INCENTIVE, AMTIX TOWERS, PO Box 10, Ludlow. Shropshire, SY8 

1 DB to arrive here before the 8th of January. The holiday will be awarded to the first correct 
entry drawn out of Crumbly's empty bathchair. 

40 AMTIX Christmas Special! 986 



4» 




m 



i^i^z^ 



1 



»: 



"U> 



^V'v'.t 




.1 




4 



wmm 







-\ 




REVIEWERS 
CHALLENGE 



ns 



-forma m ww Mfcaty to 
ng the JopifloL 



i cycles J hn bm urMkig Earth 
In tv\y Command module sent 10 
panMfc art of a plamt to dJamari 

My «UI it the art of wielding I 

On my horn* world youi njal ei s art frainpd as 
Joystick •rernYjrs frmn jn early age. and a* their 
Hoc ircuttrv evcHvf^ ami becomes keener of rvftex. 
me DfrttK young apprentices emer me vioeooTomas 
ID perfect the* skills el attaining high scores. 

Hearty one and i hart of your Earth years ago, I 
was sent on a mission. A mission thai has caused 
me greet pain and imyuologica I damage — damage 
wMch is beyond eta capabMffles of my ship-board 
medlpvter to repair. A mission which required me 



^* J 



THEZZAPI 

SCORELORD 
HAS HIS SAY 

to discover a member at your pathetic spades who 
was truly worthy of a scholarship lis the Videod- 

I made an error, shortly after a m vmg kn orML A 
minor malfunction in my navigational computer 
(whbch is unused to identifying such srnaH hamlets 
as those inhabited by you r spec«) resulted in my 
arrival in the offices ol a magazine devoted lo Com- 
modore 64 games paying. Having established con- 
tad with the backward beings thai I encountered In 
the ZZAP* offices, I set about discovering winch o1 
them was th* better player of games — and my 
proble ms began, The via ego-centric creature Ag- 
nail became my first Earth champion in the time 
period you refer to as May 1985 and since then my 
monthly at te mpts to discover other, better Joystick 
Warriors from the puny population of Earth has con 
hnued Readers of 22APF will be familiar wHh ma 
damage caused to my Mo-ROMs and with the suffer* 
mg I have endured as a result ol my endeavours. 



The strange, mutiod beings responsible for pro- 

a comment on Commodore games ha va eon- 
butfdtng the* egos. Hie ZZAP' chamber is 
awash wMh sell tuny am atory notes as the rtvoll - 
ing Soikf Hatred da—Oil Of Ludlow continue 
reviewing names, Their Ego* ham boon growing 
uncontrrilBory, and they resist further chaiingaa 
against members of the ZZAP' readership tor fear 
ol defeat and public humiliation 

N was ttnt to change (his state of affairs. 

So confident were the loyl Z2AP 1 duo of Perm and 
flignall in their setf- appointed roles as games-play- 
ing champions of the magazine publishing world, 
that they suggested the yjw allow ed to pit thw 
nb M a causal an ntrivwers from the other 
computer magartftee produced frn ma vicinity fts a 
time of celebration approaches, which your teno- 
mental race refers to as Chrtstmaa r I issued the 
order that the MMU KEVlCWEflS OtALLflW 
should be arranged 

The CRASH and AMT1X1 staff were commanded 
Id seiecf the prime of their reviewing team to face 
up to Perm and Hlgnell. Each of the six revie w ers 
salaried a game that runs on their computer; end 
the OOrtaw t In discover the mosl abto Joystick War- 
rior began. 

in choosmq a game. each ftvte war believed that 
he was attempting Id thwart his five opponents by 
selecting a game that they were unfamiliar with and 
that he was good at playing. They all believed that 
I would award abt points Id the person Id gain the 
highest score h each game, Ifot points to the sec- 
ond highest and io on, and would award an overall 
championship to the individual wrth the highesl 
total score. 

A foolish assumption Particutarry looJish on the 
part of the ZZAP1 egomaniacs, who know me of 



Before relating the tale ol me challenge rtserf. lot 
me introduce you to the pathetic specimens who 
stepped into the arena end teU you a Irttte about the 
games thai they each brought with them 



JULIAN RIGNALL 

nrni ■ i m inn »*■■■ — *uh^u« t^B n rrt r auivnfawl « tU^m hn 

grow many years ago wnen ne was awanieu a me oy 
an antique computer magazine by ma name of C4 VG 
Since mo» days whan the tiny Rignsn first brushed 
with tame, his body arid ego have grown at dispropor- 
tionate rates Currently, hts boo is large enough to be 
regarded as a second moon for your ptanet whue hts 
body and musortaiMfe are stlf on a pa/ with a two- 
weefcHjW Onng u'lang 

Hb choice of game is Drufmm, a honjonta* scrolling 
shoot am up, tvaitaoie only on fie Commodore, 

in essence Drvwom mamWes an arcade game by 
tm name of 50* Safe — a sort of enhanced Oafcodr 
The ptayer contrors a man wm a pet pack, laser, smart 
bombs and an irwt&o cloak thai grants temporary 
imrmirHty to aimi and their weapons. 

GARY PENN 

Known as 'Gene 1 to ZZAP readers on accounf of his 
Pannchant for dressing UP m nighties made for pnt- 
pubescent schoolgais, as well as lor huge, eiaboraie 
lonsurai sculptures created wtm the aid of giant 
economy sized tins of Boots Own Brand hair lacquer, 
Penns pnme daim to fame amongst fvs readership ks 
actwred by performmg Dangerous Brothers type 
stunts So far he has stuffed the enure ZZAP 1 Morecup- 
boards supoty of pysbeks down his trousers and eaten 
four fingers of Kit KM sideways 

Nts choice tor me Challenge is, agam, a Commodore 
onry game, mtt bme by the name of Saturn. Its a 



one way honroritaJ scroWmg shoot em up m which me 
piayer znoms through forty Increasingly difficult levels 




RICHARD EDDY 

Knqwri ;is "Git*, lo fas mends and 'Dick Ed to bis 
enemies. Mr Eddy is Cornish by birth and upbringing 
and was prised horn the land of dotted cream by the 
Editor of MfTK who though he could do wrth another 
riot on his loam Since arriving in Ludlow a few of your 
Farm months ago, the small fcxrt impertectty formed 
Grain has devated himself lo Software Editor status. 
fallen m invt mm Be* from Trapdoor, and covered his 
comer ol the AMTbfi cell* wall with pictures of Mandy 
Keyftoe of PIRANHA and Berk of Trapdoor m roughly 
equal Quannties 

Wtien pressed to make a choice of game to me 
Mfitasl. Eddy plumped for Xmw from AflGUS PRESS 
SOFTWARE, believing mat this aaJWwrtsque futures 
port waanl due tor release on the other two machines 
before the Challenge was to take ptace Sadly. Dtcfc Ed 
wrong — mi* High Tech tee Hockey ^nani m 



which players aim to knock the puck into their oppo- 
nent's goal with giant skeds arrived In the CRASH office 
in good bme tor me Spectrum reviewers to gel some 
practice m . . 

MASSIMO 

VALDUCCI 

AStaNiofi when « comes to pJaytnq lUWs ScoobfDoo, 
mis Italian was iu«y aware that me doggy game has 
been wen ptoyed m the OWSM olte lafmoogh unavail^ 
aMeonitaCoffifnudOfe) Mass. as he is known, dalmed 
to be me champtafi when n comes to playing Scoter 
Oootni based he choice on the prouahtiiiy of an easy 

A reefcteflt teltow, El Duco is rumoured to haw con - 
tads wtm me tamed Ludlow Mafia and has already used 
Ma influence and means of persuasion to arrange for 
AMTIX^ Editor Malcolm Harding to rafted him every 
nwnmg and dni* him to work and then chaufreuf him 
home again ai the end ol the day 



A veritable lounge kttFfl from me (my and remote Eartn 
dweHung-zone known as lenbury Welts, Ben Stone his 
been associated with CRASH for a considerate period 
ot tann-Dme. naming oompaneo nts studies at a me 
Tenbury Wefis Academy where he spacWtoed In ptaymg 
the antique arcade machine provided lor students 
amusement, Ben has entered another training scheme 
which permits him m lounge around the CRASH office 
on a semi -permanent basis, supplying comments on 
games and QaneraHy assisting in the witting of the 
magazine, 

ffie Beau Brummei <# Spectrum gamin g, ^ Slow 
invests the mnjohiy ol his paltry income w hts wardrobe 

■jui Im. i ■■■In iiiiMiin * -, ji jud *.-*--*- ij-j-A --J 

am is rareiy seen wnnoui a sm gr ■veils eioupaig 
Rebok trainers, Lacoste and Fila jumpers and Benetton 
ptaHuits, The man who took Posing to Tenbury chose 
toftra for the Owienge — a game which had orty 
armed on Microdrive in the CRASH office 48 hours 
before the appornled flay and which had only been seen 
and played by the CRASH starters when the Challenge 
began, The game is a left and right scrolling shoot am 
up, Ml of gratuitous vtovroe and eattng. looser* baaed 
on me flhn pt (he same name 

MICHAEL. DUNN 

Nicknamed 'Stappy for a reason mat has been tat in 
the mists of bme, Dunn s eahy daim to tame arrived 
shortly after he joined (he CRASH team as a reviewer , 
He was chaaeii to model tef the «mw hal attd T^thini 
edveritafltont in die arms of a rather strange young 
lady. An interesting biological specimen. Sloppy has the 
abi iny to render his entire lace . from eyebrow lo eanobe 
the cotouf ot an ovef-npe tomaio whenever relerefipi 
to mat girtfnend is made. . . A man who harbours a 
number nf guifty sacrets? 

ftrfr Throm was this blushing mnewers irss rjuce 
— a motorbike game that appeared over two of your 
Earm years ago Dorm no doubi belWved that me Otwr 
reviewefiinmeCi^aJlengewoualhaval^ 
tan how to play this two-wheeled race game an no 
Douoi e * pecwo d ob aoie co namp nume n an easy an 
point toad m at I 



42 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



LET 

BATTLE 
BEGIN. 



Dropzone 

Aim: to scare- ,is m^nv points 
as pmsihle in T(t minutes 




RIGNALL 

After much winflttng, tto Spiky Haired ones from ZZAPi 
pr«vtf upon mi other coniestamj arid art all owe d to 
commence tto Ctotanpe wflft fripnirift RtQnafl Insists 
on sorting, as tto game tt tiki choice, hi whines, ft is 
one of Ml att-oroe binary conquests — a co nq ue st on 
which he has bean building tots ego tot some thnt. 

Ttopunyotogetsotttoasnakystan — presumably 
M Mi « playing witn an old tome agam — and he 
naiuwy manages ipcompm me ns wkj wves wnn- 
Ml toting « life Suddank. wflhm ft* spice dl 1M MC- 
onus, npp uses iwo eves — am i d ue mnniea 
Hflfi ■ cruahing defeat on the part of one of nty arcft- 
MtoiotMif 

Sadfr « * not 10 to .Iteary crosses ito Rignafl tea 
c Offse t taomi, »nd igy ad on by th e Inertia of m 
massive ego hi maneges to swrivft, completing his 
HDtUd 1 minutes m a score of 1 54 .870 stows on tto 



STONE 

Dressed toHl, Incapable olreecuir^ 
stops toward muttering about havirvj played mis game 
a couple of arm and does r*s best id prow mar tm 
b indeed tto caes. 

He starts off resonate won, eiprmg at (to «to of Ml 
bit game wnh 4 score of 14,640 and a fair amount erf 
turn rernamhrie in which ic improve tut status 

in hH second pame Ben doesn I lose a Ufe unM at 
iHir 3 minutes have passed and 26.460 pOTO have 

a*^toOQedormedixK UnperTunjfld.i^^aysgiiwrth 
i maruacal #earn tn to eye . expiring gracefully just as 
lie !f>m*iute ktawi sounds A credliato 55 : WO 
points iff entered into the comrminiputer's log against 
Stone's name 

EDDY 

JWwO^Of^pwwrtrgin Another tfQOCtodtokjr* as tar 
is the Z2AP rivals an concerned Richard bravely slaps 
f orwari lo take his place ai ha joyrtlek and commencas 
pDy — only io demonstrate to Sack of experien ce by 
toeing his first frfe after a mere IM seconds A true 
naV'inggor penormancB. 

Gathering * Jrrfle composure under a barrage of ver 
be* ituae arid loud htartty from Pmn and Wgnaii, Eddy 
presses on but ws first gmw kaste bartly a mirtuteand 
hi comets a partly 4,580 lor ha efforts 

Mme mrinuto remain tor him to develop a tochntauo h 
bOt Pick manages three more comc«eie games before 
fle twne Jwntt eaqpires Hi has to to satisfied with an 
i persona* bast of 15.440 



DUNN 

The vtt of ait lambs brtugfit id tht Commodore for 



tiaugtftar In front of me Spiky HUred vUe ones Swppy 
has not ptiysd tt«s game Wore — so undefstandaWy 
flnda H drfftetih to survlvt WNNn a couple of minutes 
to M attempt rs over , and a score of 9480 Is air he 
ftaa acfteved. 

Pressing on, Dunn swms to be a quck tamer His 
second foray sees Mm nudge ow the 20.000 mark but 
then to suddenly goes to pieces A We a tost at 23 J80 
mthir it 24,040 and the last remaining .rKamafion is 
re moved a t i^e dock r^s 24.600 

VHkrMy. this petite p*fyer ^rartlig a red LM hat 
starts again but ts rapidly vvlpad out after scoring a 
mare 5,430 points Then* fcs no tome remaining m the 
10 minute aitocabon kx a foirtti anernpt His yet very 
early m the QlaHenge, however , . 

PENN 

Another cocky Commodortan Perm marches up to tto 
piayjone straddiw me chair, anring a a r teo n Wanc t and 
a strong aroma of Boob hai riacouer 

Perm's famiiianty wrfr tto game shows the moment 
to begins play — wttfrn 23 seconds he has gathenrf 
up and rescued the eight scientists to compiete tto nret 
level He continues to ramp through tto second and 
third levels at a rapid pace and I find myself becoming 
annoyed al tto mutorirt arrogance 

Ha' I am quickly pleased — overconfidence com- 
bmadwtth me desire to stow off causes tto worm to 
lose concentrator lor a moment, and to loses two Bute, 
He stows down a little, playing more EUbousty but 
nevertheless manages to scrape a huge score of 
123,010 hn a single gam* by the time tto klaxon goes 
arwnis time in ttonid tto Commodora screen obrnjgriT 
to a ti mely end 

VALDUCCI 

Cnampir^attto&nMassfiTOwshim^ 

LirrramiHar game Ifc a * b Ul al a gate 4 to borrow an 

Wogjcal Inguttfc construction horn your Eartfi tan- 



Anothtr halr-trtggat merchant. El Duca grtmaces P 
sneers and snarls his way through early failure — taking 
less man 90 seconds to expire witn a score ol 6,5^0 

ne rem a hbb oeiuei in me seoDno game, Qoaung 
15.090 before dying — thus forcing his AMTW if 
league flmtfy Into last place He continues, attempting 
to improve hts ranking, but despite cramming three 
more short games Into the remaining time, fails to 
improve his score. 



Scooby Doo 

Aim: to serin .«s many points 
as possible in 10 minutes 



37700 appears on me doc* snrj the Staiiidn wfioviitt 
ir. anger Another life goes it 38.000 and anomer at 

38.450 The game ends on 33.700 after a WDe over 
*ght minutte 

Confident with his ftgh score, and apparenfly oww- 
ous to tto darti threats from Tto Martoa, im? lussw 
m Trwpfar poster w*i g4*t and sMpa ^f foraegpof- 
tea, oepaimg d Degm aranner pane. 

RIGNALL 



Not a total virgm wton it comes to thrs doggy 

is vie c 



Rignall demonstrates tne sneaky side of his s 

ality the moment to bagiftt play Rather ttot attempting 
to tompJete tevais and rescue his mates, tto puny one 
remains r oo i erj to ma spot ormng pvjm to coaeci 



rvHns m cieiisiun Bern reunD ra « 
is forced to make some token effort towards actuaty 
playing the game After 4 minutes of manipulative play, 
to is on tto second level with a score of zt.ioo wton 

tw Hves run out 
Lommancing a second game, me oomue crenn 

collects a mere 3.800 points before ttmeoul 

DUNN 

Cla im ing moderate prohctency at tto Spectrum version 
onHsgame, Dunn begins play and the spectators soon 
wonder tf tto Amsfrad version la a drftarerrt patter ol 
ScooOy snacks' For a tense ton minute to «s crowded 
by ghosts which to to* difficulty m heetHng ai bay and 
ewtuaWy loses a life. 

Progressing through the first level with plenty of close 
stoves, to manage* to rescue Ttolma and attain a 
soore of 5,000 Cotocttng three new lives m quick mc- 
cession. things begm to go wei tton desaster stmws 
After Ave minutes of play (to game comes to an abrupt 
end with 1 9.500 on tto dock * 

Restarting rapMy, Stoppy plays a remar VaWy similar 
game and is on tw pffnt of rescung Fred wdn a score 
of 19,250 wton Imt rune out lot ton 



Ana' ins is a game ra mn net not ptsyeo Oiiore 
Mayto to Is due tar to ftai comeuppance 1 

frutigingry, I have to admit thai to does rather we4 
Rescuing Ttolma to co mri ei i LaMt One. Pann haa lost 
one lift as the second level Harts He begins to gst 
mg Fnrtlweaare^^mev^eotastr^minuie, 




amtm 

D|q| 



and the smugness dtta pp eafs Wrth one lite remaining, 
to battles on. d esp e ra tely trying to rescue Fred I am 
pleased to see Mm meet a swift and at tto tonds of a 
marauding .jack-in-me-pot 
With a score of 19 240 to his credit. Perm takes i 

tome to improve his score and is left with a score of 

1 t ,aso as tto ten minutes allocation ends 



DDOfflDDOgl 

paopqt ^ 




VALDUCCI 



k 



*«w 



EDDY 



This is another of Ihoat 'aria 1 games that seem to 
attract Dick Ed's attentions — rattor Uku Tmpdoor Hi 
claims to kwe' pteytng Scooby, and sets to, making 
strange cooing noises 

This www -ck splhy haired reviewer (he gave up 
emulating Pern wton rus meagre wages would not 
cover tto enormous cost of hair lacrjuer and gel) 1 seems 
competent at rius game He finishes me firs*, level with 
a scote or i ,590 and without tto loss of a single Me, He 
continues to complete the second towel without death 
and has 3i ,450 poMa to his ere* 

B Duca begins to rtoto frufcnftng noises and starts 
taking loudfy about 'concrete trainers ' (whatever they 
may bel as Ociue passes tto 37.O0C marv which to 
ce te tyato w«i tto loss of a irle Another Hta is tost as 



A chance to putt bach from a previous poor snowing B 
Oucci settles in trorrt of h«s favoume game and sets 

ni-tJi_jl dfain in M%» n ■ ■ ■■■ ilil ■ il ijIljililh H-.n.l *- - im Hui 

atmui proving to me assemow mrong mai to ts tne 
Godfather wton It comes to Scooby Doo 

And to certainly does a good job Although tto ftret 
few m mutes of pity reveal no spectacUar am — the 
Raton On e low hts flrvt We altar a rmnuto and a tog 
when 960 points nave bean amassed — staying power 
is orjviousry the Stallion's strong point to continues 
playmg urrtf the om* limit is up He has grtoped up to 
the second level and has a score of 37,050 whan time 
runs out 

STONE 

Mr Label wears a tew more microns from me soles & 
his Robots as to approaches tie Ipyvflcfc and imm 
that to r§ ' cool ' at tto game. Mr Cool loses his first ife 
two minutes into tto game — towards tto end of tto 
first level in less than a minute, to recovers ha compo- 
sure, cranks hks designer score up to 13.150 wj com 
pMes Level One Thereafter to loses lives at roughly 
one minute intervals, Btoadtfy buNdtog up his score itfM 
tto last We goes at 9 mirnaee and 1 5 eeconds wdft ito 
clock at 33,200 

FvWermy a pnei tonar of Ito t Wg n a r Endgame, 
this lad: to finishes as dose to tto ttpiry of vie ante ^^ 
limit as he can r^ 

AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 43 



Full Throttle 

Aim: la ai hteve the shortest 
time for a three lap circuit of 
Si! vers lone 



EC STONE 

e : % IT I c 



LflM* flO 1 




VALDUCCI 

DemartrifigthaitotoieafftbeifcN^ 

saddle at a Mkrto Guzzi at he Itapil wa ma ohm 



before, out medio hero screams round Bm tack, 
remaining firmly in lest portion lor iw entire flnl lap 
He moves up to 35th place on the second lap, The third 
and ftfttf lap twgans. and Mass finds himself back at M 
Mend. Some jostlng Improves lit placing leinpufirify 
— he reaches 3 Ttfi place — but manages lo regain hts 
laa-eno (ncpifl ai time lor me anon ant. irw race anas 
At 2 minutes and 43 seconds of dubious riding. 

STONE 

Not a designer game. EM one b in the openon. of Mr 
Tromtfui Moan, gnpe, complain 'This te yean ow " 
Admitting to having played *w game'egesago. Stone 
zooms on arm compmes me i™ up in one minute 
dead, attaining 30m place briefly On the second cireull 
he shaves a tew se cond* off Ms ta p t^. c rossing the 
|ne in 1 minute 53 s e c o nd s it last position 

An iMWRM iMl l^k ISM Bin IHtih the rac& m 9 
tt^&ira of ?rn^wfes«] 44 seconds — in last place 
fwi a napBr of me paot wnen n comes 10 Duong. . . 

RIGNALL 

"Har tot* h quoth tie weedy one/ 1 played tts one beck 
m tit good ow days befert I got ■ Commodore", and 
settles down m front of (he screen 

A siigriT problem ks encountered on me first corner, 
which has the ffifraf rump to danger cri severe damage, 
but a rapid recowy is made and he noxious mature 
gets into h* stride, etteinlng 1 7m p4ace durmg the first 
top He ta res lees * m on jw second lap dropping 10 
tast as be crosses md finishing line fof the second tune. 
A minor recovery takes plx* in the final tap and Rignali 
^ tag win a time erf ? mtautet 40 



DUNN 

Clearly mts is Skippys game. He proves to be rather 
good M it, burning round the track and gaining first 
poefton with awe Ho suffer* a csoitiion during ifte ftrst 
lap, bu^l peiiifeid too badly to tie event, crossing 
the wmning tote eflh a ttme of 2 minutes 30 sec on ds , 
1 2 seconds ahead of the frit n m§ computer umliuled 



IhaZZWDttyTricfcs 

.■j-j. -I jinn IIJLlLJLlL ||| 

but they remained 



Strange. I tHouWnav« 
Department to have swung Into 

toud inferences to Skippy'soi 
sietiL Odd, Most «M krtieed 

EDDY 



Ttwe'i nottwo outs or cuddN about motorbikes and 
eeeing as me Comisft Dot hasn't played Ws game 
before, no-one in ttw arena soems to believe thai the 
AWttf Accotadr s going rg ! B rf very wel 

Clipping M ^oysDcfc 45 if n «as a handtabar Is not 
the brightest My Do play the game, the assembled 
throng points exit and eventuaMy Ock Ed stops l*vmg 

44 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



MP to ms name and sals out on the grueHtng rMe. He 
gets off to a deddedty shafcy start, weaving al overtta 
track, and is soon nt4es behind a> the other riders £m 
wrtn no ocriw rmrs m sjqthl. me corman run seems to 
be sutfdflnfl from clotted reflexes and has severe <••- 
cutty remaining m fte track.. 

Eventually he catches up. He keeps nudging other 
Hkes rep ea ted / yet manages to make his way to 33 rd 
piece at one stage during the second tap. Disaster 
strikes: he hits several bikes, tads Into last place and 
drags over the me in a time of 2 minutes 42 seconds 
— a iieiwtsinrti oood time, ofven hfs rkMna ^■" ifa " 

PENN 

More moaning: Its Ike a poor mans Super Cyde 
Wlnge, compialri Mo doubt the wde- jawed. |dv«bck- 
trousered one la suflering from a tack of hakspray , lor 
nt morale seems » oe orooping a imie. atong mn ms 
strangely coined hair. "The mckertng Mkes are putting 
meoff"< he wwiges bumping his way around the tra ck. 

An uninspiring ride from such e seW -proclaimed 
game player — high spot of the three laps is the brief 
moment when Penn squeaks into lath place, but he 
manages lo finish 39th in 2 mmtjte$ 4 1 socondt, A fairty 
dose matched ride all round, wvth Skippy justrtymg his 
personal clioice by a oomtorttbie margin 



Sanxion 

Aim: lo hi ore a& itunv points 
as possibk- in 1 1I minutt-s 









w nnnum t^ iFiMii 




STONE 

Mora owgner compwnaig from fie tncte one. his mn 
game lasts 1 tlftle over two mmutes in which Ben daws 
hit way 10 a iCore of 6.4SQ Apparently he has played 
this game a Hide, bul rnxri h .15. performance hg m ighi as 
wiril not have bothered . . , 

Game Two gets off to a sJJgMy better start —\ 0,580 
points are on the dock when the first Hie goes, but then 
the second, third and four* bee am afl km on the wails 
and no antra points are gained! Wasteful playing. 



Alter a couple of hundred seconds. Wave One has 
bean neg oiat ed and the score pushed up to 11,380 
When ne Anally eaptes — with 3 minutes playtime 
avaitabto lo him, Stora throws in the towsi and glees 

up Pusillanimous play indeed 

EDDY 

The soft, wimpy Eddy likes Smnon The soft, wimpy 
Eddy raptdfy prates he's not very good at playing &ani 
m Three oames are pto^dm a Utile om three minutes 
and27Mlstfnht^9Cmi*«Md 

Game tour gets o« to a slightly better stail — only 
two crashes In the first 30 seconds — but betore long 
D-Ed is having problems again Hying slowly, shooting 
Stowty and bumping into things Whal this Cornish Pats* 
needs rs somtihing big and colourful and gtflto like 
Trapdoor I despair ot him 

Oh ranty ■ He has managed lo sane* tt onto Hi eoc* 
ond level No oorius achieved m the transition, though 
A bomb puts pam 10 h is r urt lor glory ai 7 640 pomts 

Starting oul again with less than lour minute* 
remaining, he wgohafes ms first level successfully. 
running into a bomb cmce bui otherwtse managing a 
dear run. Entering the bonus level with 2, 950 thecuoe 
starts the second level with 4,766 points and sttrts 
having a hard time again Somehow he survives — and 
almost bapns lo sNra. but crashes mto the first set of 
barriers at M and o*t» level with 9 mtautes 15 sec- 
onds elapsed and 8.910 points on the dock. 



klaxon 



VALDUCCI 

A mane style of pity chara c te ri ses El Dutti's s 
at Sanxlon — a game he admAs 10 having 1 
on a couple oi occasions. His first game lasts a mere 
47 seconds and yMfe 1,650 pomts Second tune 
around he tests 4 seconds longer, but iSI comes out 
with 1,650 points. Cunningly consistent H a little short 
and sweetf Hbnlc«Hbg of the fire btfflm combined with 
rather slow reactions don 1 help 

SJowmg down a bd horn the pramrtn eyectw style 
of missile hurling . the Stalon takes his thkd game a bit 
more steedHy survives the first level and 
carefbty unfli lis tat We is removed by » < 
a banier at 9,000 points 

Another quick game sees hen enter the second level 
andainrtvo lon g mm fi lo cottect TAm pokitt - 

1 ana 9jm9 M own OQ W BClBO 

lbs combined wtth staying pov^f setms 

id be the gaming style adopted by the Italian Stallion in 

All but Scoodr Doc 

PENN 

SIViertu brio lw hotoeit coledlng the joysbek cootty 
ano saning ptay. remiptesiosinzmnttanufnnr- 
Ifan swamp Hug to a rippling pool ot sfeme M li t 
^ckKWig ^t. waTrhrrxjnim ptay casually and akno$t 
competemty He has neerty made it lo me end of me 
third stage and collected over 26,000 points before he 
loses the first m of the game, a mere 3 minutes 42 
seconds after starting Two minutes and another 13,000 
points elapse before tie second tow of Me — but It only 
tikes ancdier 7 seconds lor the Mohican Monster to die 
again. I note with some satWacbon 

A fjrcfr moment tofowsar^ 
Perm opts to tflflMiMt s uicide when confronted with the 
Metier Ship. One minute remains as he enters the last 
bonus screen and Bonus level 5 looms mgh (kke* 
com men ce! Lev* 6 wtth 71.770. end sn sewds 
betore timeout he loses a life, achieving a score on 
73.070 

Unable to resist an opportunity Id demonstrate tat 
sheer size of his ego. the revoWng croature continues 
to play while m around him yawn wfti boredom The 
aragantfeJtowfinatty leaves the computer with a large, 
smug grm spread tooes Mi larae. smug mouti and 
124500 on tm deck 

DUNN 

rs all new to him Looking partjcularty tran and Fbgnri- 
lesque behind Ma specs. Skippy plonks himsed down 
behrnd a Commooorehji oi Santron and prepares to do 
hts besi at a game tie rm fust seen played for the ftrtf 
tome 

Hfa first attempt lasts almost 30 second^ mH before 
the 90 second mark 15 up rwo more games have taken 
place The Blushing One s third game begins to took a 
imte more promising as he blasts his way through to 
me second level, h looks like 1 probable personal best 
for fre Nervous Creature as he empires on me bamers 
at the end ol 1h* second level wth a score of t0,6?0 

pOffflS- 

And indeed, mat it exactly what <t prow to b e — a 
further three short fames W to ytoW signifiwit scores 

as the 10 minute Imrt ends. 



RIGNALL 

fugnaU must sense detet ( tar he begins a litany of 
moans covering a ruige of subjects 10 do wtth not tUng 
fie game, not having had the chance to pftcoce 
enough 8 artohanfyha^bmetopiataSanMi^ 
tong enough to get used to the comrds. tt this, despite 
hours playing toe game when I came In lor review. Ha* 
he wi kw lo Perm, tfvt is for sun, 

He tftifo badly tosmg a life after 20 seconds TTus 
ut>-nerved r he only just makes it to the second level 
The small Spiky creature copes wtth the third level with 
mamc precision and enter* the fourth tevef with 35 380 
points to his credit M the stan oi levoi flve t he gets a 
little over -confident and loses two lives in Quick succes- 
sion. Two more Ives disappear before file Mother Ship 
is encountered and dupoaed of. 

The defence barrters at tt» end otmtMth level pit?* 
a ma^or pottem After sevwe eflort w^ch appears to 
rase stunge brutes onlwthoriiof th«ipinu^be^ 
Mgnal Me to avoid death and ends the game with a 



score ai 43,990 Only 90 seconds reman, sorts clearly 

nor *orti continuing wrth a second game. 



Xeno 

Aimr the best score from I wo 
g.imt»<« played on Average* Skill 
levd h used. Each game consists 
< if four mi million ft quarters 





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iiivtXSNN&» 



EDDY 

The Cormsh Pfclue bdievtid mat Jfew would only be 
ratibie on Erie Amstrad by the time my ChaVenge took 
ptac* - and his McWon to include it in me AMT1X1 
portfolio of games was dearly irrnusnceo by mis factor. 
The diminuitrrt one is overtaken by events. however. 
and ma game arrives in the CRASH office tn good time 
lor Stone and Dunn to gel plenty erf practice 

Tna rwws it broken Id him just as he starts to play. 
and somew h at petulantJy , tie tommences Clearly, me 
fadtoh Mow is urwwrved try me news He fails to scof* 
m me 1 si quarter and it ends 0-0. me computer score 
16 seconds into the 2nd quarter and shortly thereafter 
Dick Ed pufe tuck to 1 -1 . Plenty of active play ensues 
and ust before the 2nd o>iarter ends Dtcfcrc is aooul to 
snooiand . .ma quarter ante. Not today, rtseems 1 

He concedes another goal early in the 3rd quarter 
but manages to pull back to a 2-2 draw by the end of 
me rather uneventful pme. n Wm» is me best the tad 
can do, needlework might tor* been a better choice of 
occupation 

The Cornish Otors ne*t gam* goes rather belter — 
he maintains me edge owr me compoter, scoring earty 
in -the i st quarter and after about 20 seconds to the 2nd 
ouart* As the 4m quarter starts, Dickie & winning 3-0, 
ml 19 begkmmg to look pleased with himself Pnde 
ahvays tones before a fall. according to one of your 
Earfi toterjecoons . and me case is proved yet again A 
men S seconds before me end of the game , me compu- 
ter scores and Dkto is leh wim a r^t irae ^ 
appears less man pmserj 

DUNN 

MaytaEddymputcrff&rmefad 
wen gtoabng adoct alt the pnactoce they had been aoie 
to put m Now es me time tor me pudding to be proved 
rjy consumption — to paraphrase another of youf 
strange linguistic constfuctjrjiis. 

MyPteasyre Circuits mnii as Dunn begins to fow. By 
the end of me 1st quarter the computer letfs 4-0, a 
lead h e*pands to 5 by me end of me 2nd quarter and 
to 7 -0 &y me end of me 3rti Ai me end of Game One 
the bkanrng Spectrum -wielder d B-0 down to the com 
outer I have not had so much pleasure wefctikv A 
Chafanger play a game tine* my Mission begen.andl 
sense my Pleasure Circuit overload totes warming lor 
me href time in eons. . , Whet can Skw do to amuse 



me In Vie second garnet 
His second session starts ram better to me 1st 

quarter me computer only succeeds in scoring one goal 
My Pleasure Circuit fuses coot ahttie During me second 
gutter the computer hammers two more goals home, 
and In the third quarter scores three The final quarter 
bamwmSiiJppyag^fltieBhatfeofpinkarW 
putor W in me lead It ends wtm a 7 defeat and a 
rafter mom intense shade of f*nk reflecting off me 



on to perform like an agitated rattM ngrroig away from 
myxamatosis ending up exhausted wrth a lead of 14 
goals to I am displeased 

STONE 

My earty pleasure in observing the computer win it 
JTarw looks set to twrxwied Stone has rJertJedthrtttis 
game ks a game for poeen such as he. and tights me 
computer every Inch of the my He wins me first malcft, 
6-Z. Spurred on. he manages to play even more 
designer shots in his second match, and concludes wim 
an 11 ■ 1 lead May the Kangaroo skin on his. tartars 
moulder . .. 

RIGNALL 

Strange indeed RignaM has never played this before 
m the puny one desists from the usual defensive bsr- 
rage of whining mat usually forms a par of his binary 
toreptay rf he feels in me slightest danger of doing less 
man well i am bemused 

Aha 1 He has been studying me gameplay of hks oppo 
nerrrj and has worked out a sneaky way of scoring goals 
tgetat Die computer, He plays an underhand match, 
and as a result 4 find myself living to cope with RtgnaJis 
15<i lead at m* arid of the first game 

In the lsi quarter it becomes apparent that me 
sneaky mode of play is not ktftHUe — the wimp only 
scorns two goals , to the second Quarter he laits to score 
and gets stuck on the otesttc so gives up in disgust . . . 
There's nothing worse man a cheat cheated 1 

PENN 

Another jfer» rtgfei. Penn appears strangely cofftfcnt 
too What is going on in the sptky minds of these Com 
morjofiam? 

He beets the computet 3 2 in fts first match To my 
eternal disgust, he does rather better In his second 
game, winning 4-0 See how oasiiy pleasure turns to 
pam _ | was Dverjtiyod m the early stages of this 
section of tie contest, and now find myself suffused 
wtm frustrated anger. Those who I least wanted to do 
weiira^givenarjedriablflaa^nioim 



Cobra 

Aim: to store as many point** 
as possible in 10 minulcv 




VALDUCCI 

The manic technique comes to me fore again, I hM 

We des*re to report on me Staiihrjn J s performance here, 
Suffice to say he wins Ms first gsrrw 7 and men goes 



DUNN 

This is supposedly the trump cart in the CfWSHftmioury 
— only Dunn and Stone have seen rt before mis 
moment Once more, Dunn seems urtabte to taprtalrse 
on an advantage Within 90 seconds hts first session 
has enrJedw»apa«ry score of 6,300 His second effort 
lasts a irffle owr a minutB, but Ms score improves to 
17000 Four minutes or so after restarting yet again, 
he has amassed a score of 36.950 and ends the game 
hM 

Deaparitofy trying to avok) blushing. Skippy r^ptdry 
starts his fourth game — and runs out of lime wrth 
44.400 on the dock. 

RIGNALL 

The unpleasant creature desists horn moantng yet 
aptn i fear me worst He starts off, collects a pistol 



almost immediately but men iose$ me pistol and a We 
in quick succession Next, he finds a machine gun and 
Starts to massacre everything m sight — m score has 
crept up to 30,550 before both gun and irfe are kst k 
am aggrieved. 

(nvvv^bUity comes to his on-screen persona in a 
hamburger, but it soon wears off: he hi stunned by a 
pram and loses ii I rfie. At the end of Lev* One the score 
ks 43.550 Seconds ttor, me peaty faced mufld totes 
his remaining Irves and ends up with en overall score 
of 44.050. 

Three short and pathetic attempts Mow wtt Agnail 
rjeubentfy erong one of mem b stan agw. nteenyo 
rmnutes remain en tie dock as Vie fourth game begms 
Rigne» ttoes passably wen, moving on to Level Two wrth 
30,000 pokes and his score creeps up. With lees man 
a minute remaining, he m kiibed of totaffy and 4 1 F £50 
shows on the the ctocfc_ 

VALDUCCI 

After 90 suconds the Itattan Stallion has nmshed htt W 
dose of crim*bu$bng. h seems to be over very quiduy 
for him Hts second game takes 99 seconds, his third 
47 seconds, his fourth G9 seconds and his fifth bash 
lasts aN of E3 seconds Top score so tar 8,700 achieved 
on the first attempt. Strange, given thai he and Mr 
Stallone share the same national origins 

Less man bur minutes reman — ttnte lor another 
Mo of trie* at least, ail no douto pathetically low- scoring 
I am amused by the inept attempts of this tough Buy 
to score points by on-screen kWing. Maybe in raaMrle. 
this bafry Mafiosi s. as yo^ strange Earth language 
would have ii ' 'an moum and trousers" 

Tn*ng$ oo not look wen — ne is snot, naooeo ana 
Alt again early into the netf go, but soon Mass begins 
mass executions wtm a machine gun. Fonts burfd up 
at an alarming rate, and the dock registers over ZO.000 
+ . , Ai last me rtiikan one has found hki term, to my 
rjpnay The SiaJtora-emufabon attempts end ii me 
hands off a bazooka wielding granny wrth a score ol 
24,050 after 9 rraoutas M seconds ot play 

EDDY 

Anovw bad start Dead Htw i3 Moonds *m 4.450 
point? on thi docd In Dick EcTs mond ohiir. h* mm- 
ages id get me maowne gun am oegins an orgy or 
enmrjess slaughter Soon me woUd-be Spiky Haked 
One has ameiesrj 25 ,1 50 rjokifrwidbooor^fompoiy* 

akT¥4nctAe Death f oilows quttrapkf) 
score hits 28,600 , Sin puny games 
timeout, *n whidi the hest score me foottsti 
a eat* is E.^00 

STONE 

A piece of Designer Programming, mis, to (udge by 
Ben s oesire to play Cobra He claims, koufty. thai he is 
good when rt comes to mindless violence Us skil la 
displayed to ell in his first attempt Stone gathers no 
moss and hertfy any points, bekig wiped out wrth 4,^50 
points to his credit. How are the mighty ciaimsderused 1 

Hrs second game hie ai me haHrarks ofanMffTDU 
rewewer, too — 3,900 points before expiry 

dearly worried, a large amount of effort goes Mo tie 
neirt Stone attempt Casting caution to me wind and 
risking the add-on ol unbecoming sweat stains to hts 
Bn p en atu e garments, Stone cusses and swears hts way 
to 42,250 points There to plenty of tone remaining m 
me lOminuiealocBten.butSlora 
VALOUCa style of gamepiay once more. 

PENN 

Ha) Incompetence shows through Perm has never 
played mis game before, s lad he o*mon$ttftes with 
elegant simplicity by ending rut first game wim a mas- 
sive score oi 650 ports . K feel I am about to have rny 
Pleasure Qrcurls stimulated once mom. 

Strangely, this wide -mouthed creature finds lis reel 
wrth hts second game, achieving a score Of 31,4(10 at 
the end of me Level One and progresses to *t* up a 
massive score Of 55,600 before e«pinng A large atoca- 
hon of time remains, but the smugness takes over and 
Penn merely toys wrth a couo*e of short games to amuse 
himself before vacating me joysbek And on that 
unh^oov note, the last Challenge g»™ to bewpujyed 
n Is ume to comoiieM scores and analyse the resufts 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 9S6 45 



THE SCORES 



My Commgmpu&i hid bean ai*piad 
score$ of &acti pM played by «ie ov 

run pnntout of the $ccrn in tabiiar tann was spewing 
from my portata COWle R was sntlcfttd up Dy the 
ttw mt to throng who insswl on aliocabnp 6 pants 

tor me winner bn Bich ewl & points ic tf» ne*t highesl 
scorer and SO ona. Their puny mairnjrnatvtal amities 
kepi them busy tor qurte a whtfe wTnl* J performs) my 
own calculations on the data shown iwe, . . , 

Initial Results Analysis 





Jfmxi 













Jhm* 















h HniHfl 


A 










I 


mo*Aii 


i*M*0 


43 t «0 


ia-0 


M.I 00 


44,060 


2.40 


P«m 


123,010 


TWTO 


4-0 


4BJ40 


66,600 


mi 


trotm 


«jno 


li^eo 


11*1 


IMM 


4J,:MK> 


Mi 


MM 


HiftOO 


tojen 


0-T 


*M» 


44,400 


Ml 


VALDUCCt 


18*470 


MM 


14-0 


i?.dw 


24,0M 


t>«a 


MOOT 


1M*0 


ej*c 


3-1 


34,700 


HUM 


tt? 



frumtrwVon mm mm a"**** bruim*d Jtfe«lf 
wtrwmkm WttmW i kt MOP ZONE 

— tfwt rnJgftt up^in m# cm rwtfwi*. * . * 



Tht «wnd of Wmc. dandruff dominated me arena as 
six hfidi wilt wattiwd end finger? counted — an 

amusing sightto £*no*d LrtB* did the sertetnttteflftal 
my catcubfbons had already bsen performed Etch 
reviewer lad ptoyod m pursuit of penana! girxy Ear* 



reviewer was keen to discover me overall ranking he 
tod achieved according to the system I had allowed 
mem to boiewe wta to be operated 

Groans suddenly erupted as Ire result Of flier pnmi- 
bve calculations appeared RignaH's smite was so wide 



THE FINAL OUTCOME: 



tar mt mvsKtLLi dhallinge . 



only It aa 




that ft seemed the tmjtsmg on his neck, 

ttn&us pracbca. became even worse He thought he 
was the NEWSRELD Champion' 

Not so, not so for I had decided thai fie scoring 
system was inappropriate Aa the was a tfufenge bet 
ween the- reviewing teams from the Caw unrjuvm, R 
is fooii"5Ji in the extreme tcv allow games played on die 
'home' machine to courrt into mdivKkial'a scores Thus 
ftgnal arid Perm are deprived of me* ponrta tor ftqa- 
xx* and Sarutor, UaMuct* and Eddy deprived of titt 
Sc«st> Oh and Jteno poms and Stone and (Hum do 
not get credit for piayinrj CoLVa ami FyK Tbmttte 



TrmfMfa. Thm twimn mtfuy i 

to MRMk *tyif# 




j|#7lW 



o*iy*»— E*"*9*» ta»s fwefrrPw Gefte* — fluff Hvvttfr 


WWMirl 


— 


— 


4 


3 


S 


4 


JWW 


— 


— 


I 


1 


4 


4 


mow* 


4 


4 


a 


4 


- 


— 


«" 


J 


3 


1 


2 


- 


— 


Kunuccr 


t 


1 


— 


— 


1 


1 


moor 


1 


1 




— 


| 


2 



THE OVERALL CHAMPION 



without doubt, R la Stone wto deserves the Accolade, 
Smash or Sector crown as overai cnampkvv not the 
nMrittng Arjial. For Stone gains minimum pomts On 
' away' games three times — on Dropiane, Sanson mo 
SCQOby Doc. white Rignall unty gains two overall vie 
tones on away pam« JTanoand Fu* Thrutte Hignal 
be$pns to su* as 1 announce m tol reautta — his ego 
o apparently more bruised man hfe neck, which baara 
grange oomuwrei aa ma m*M tf aomearaAfliptaa- 
ome the spindn/ ona Indulges in regtitarty 
Owjfal, vtt ranMng based on 'away 1 points is 95 



Clearly, Stone a VkttLuttoiwn — the contestant wrtn 
the rwghesi score and me most "away 1 wins to he credit 
On a team basis, ZZAR and CBASH. as befits the 
senior magazines in me NEWS* lELD stawa. coma out 
best — point leaders with 24 ooioib cdlectad by their 
reviewers. Both the ZZAPt and CRASH teams collected 
3 away wins. 3 away 2nd places, 1 away 3rd place and 
1 away 401 place The AMTOi teamsters trail hopelessly, 
with a total or 1 2 punts between them^id 4 away 3rd 
placing* *nrj 4 $way lost placing*. 



STONE 18 

RIGNALL , „.™ T .„„ .^. 14 

PENN „ 10 

L*lJI*l™ ■- ' * HlWllll i|l 'i a<-H-fc *M- U-l*i-lf m, mwrnim ri .1 U 

VmLL'LA-fwI ....... r .... 1 ........u....L. l .Li... L ...i....m D 

EDDY „,-- mmM , ww , ^■ w ^-„ « 

46 AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 



TTw final words must go to Fbchard 'DKh' Edrty, 
explaining nis magaiines loss of honour: "I jusl don't 
Pby games — thaTs all there is to it 1 ". Unless, of 
eouras. thay are arte and cuddly gamw featuring large, 
cute, cotaurfU CTBBtures Pah" He rnakfis my kjoncant 
flRafactog . , , 







THE AMAZING . . . 



BANG 



BANG 



GthUQ 



SPLOT..YOU'RE DEAD COMP! 



part II 

THE SAGA CONTINUES. . . . 




W2L0M 




SHOOT AN AMTIX! STAFFER 



► ► 



YOUR COMPUTER 

MAG NEEDS 



BE YOUR OWN 

'ROGUE TROOPER' 

WITH A DAY AT 

COMBAT ZONE 

Courtesy of 
PIRANHA 




may remember a couple of 
ago we ran a competition 
mat looked very much Wee this 
one. Well, one* again you are far 
tOO Quick lor a humble nun ion like 
mysert It ' s true, and PI RAN HA .ire 
now extending the competition to 

Seven more wtnners to add to 
ones we already have, so thai 
ind a soled band of 
can spend a day at 
Combat Zone, Combat Zone you 
wi remember ts that amazing 
piece wftere you can play sorters, 
and put your joystick sharpened 
reactions TO the test by shooting 
various wntmg mmions with red 
pemt. Paint with wheh once you're 
rut means its time to lie down and 
play deed 1 No cheating now, be 
down and die hke a good irttfe soi- 
ettrl 

piranha evar-s^iovwty 

Mandy KftyhO is now going ig hire 



the entire Combat Zone kaboodle 
so that reviewers. PIRANHA staff, 
and readers alike can have the 
entire day all to themselves, with- 
out the bother ol any non-com- 
putertsh combatants getting in the 
way of our eversofast and itchy 
tngger fingera, 

weti, aft you have to do to win 
your commission In this platoon 01 
wheezing binary hacks is tti d«s*gn 
a recruitment poster for the read 
era army. Yea, coa it's going to be 
an ali-out war once we all arrive 
there during the half term holidays , 

Put your Kitchener type poster 
on a sheet cM paper , no bigger man 
A4 (which is the size of the page 
you're reading), and send the 
finished article to. Strike Force 
Amtlxl II, AMTIX! Training Camp, 
PO Box 10, Ludlow. Shropshire, 
SYS 1DB. Entries must arrive 
before January the 8th 1967. 




30 Copies of ROGUE TROOPER on offer! 






scl 


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B^Vi 




F < [^nJP 




L^x^Xjfi 





J 



^eftft^ 




ik0MP&TIT<IQN< 




VOTE FOR THE BEST 
GAMES OF THE YEAR! 




Christmas cornea but 
ones a year — and with it, 
the ZZAP! Reader* 
Awards. This Is your 
chance to tell members 
of the software Industry 
what you think of their 
game*, their program- 
mers end their advertise- 
ments* Vote for the 
games, the people and 
the advert* which you 
feel an worthy of pnilse. 
Fill In the form over the 
page and send it to us as 



fast as you can so our 
Database Minion can get 
to work analysing the 
results. The first 10 forms 
drawn out of the bag on 
20th January 1987 — the 
closing date — will earn 
their senders €20 worth 
of software and a AMTIX1 
HMri 

The results should be 
published In the March 
issue of AMTIXt and 
shortly thereafter the 
certificates of accolade 



will be awarded to the 
winning companies, Well 
then, what are you wait- 
ing fort Oat to ttl 
In each appropriate 
category enter the name 
of the program and the 
software house for which 
you wish to vote, Please 
note: products must have 
a 1986 copyright to be 
eligible. There 1 * no need 
to nil in every category — 
If you can't think of a suit- 
able candidate, leave the 



relevant category blank, 
Obvious ky the more you 
fill in the better the end 
result will be, 

Once you've com- 
pleted as much of the 
form as possible! remove 
this page from the 
magazine [or photocopy 
It) and send It to us. Don't 
forget to write your 
name, address and T- 
Shlrt size (small, medium 
or large] on the form In 
CAPITAL LETTERS! 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 49 



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50 AMTIX Chnstmas Special 1 986 



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tatest smash m 

KONAMI 





Screen shah from Arcade version 



SPECTRUM £7,95 

COMMODORE 64 128 CASSETTE £8.95 DISC £14.95 
AMSTRADCPC CASSETTE £8.95 DISC £14.95 
MSX CARTRIDGE £15.95 



Available from all leading retailers and 
in case of difficulty send cheques or 
postal orders to: 

NMC LTD.. PO Box 67. London SW11 IBS. 
Tel: 01 228 6730 








mKEEm 






■ 111V 

1***1 




li%i« 




Hi iiW 

|^iii«| 



KHflflL 










A 100 % rote playing game 
Come down Into the fascinating 
and devilish world of 
THULYNTE. Whether you are a 
warrler or a deafer, you will 
have to fight against terrible 
ennemfes whose only aim Is to 
destroy you. 










Forget about soapy characters 
and flying witches f 
The most fearsome of all anti- 
socials has got one mission: to 
get the president out of the 
prfsorHfke Manhattan. Blood 
will not be spared I 



GET YOUR FINGER 

ON THE BUTTON 

WITH KONIX! 




KQN ix are not a company thai are well known for their fabulous games* 
This is not overly surprising as they have made their name by hoping 
everyone to play Hundreds of games getting bigger and bettor scores 
with the KONIX joysticks range and now they are celebrating the las! est 
loysfock ever wrth the birth of the KQNtK SP6EDKING JOYSTICK wMch 
a tne micro switch mode* that is shaped to the palm of your hand No 
more unsightly Meters and throbbing thumbs thanks to its ergonornk: 
km 



Weil I say everyone but quality is 
always reflected ■" pnce and you 
pay* fer what you gM art around 
Ct3 00 a joystick, 

! never get a chance to nave any- 
thing but the worst m just about 
everything. Take clothes for 
instance. Whttet all the joystick- 
pumping prannets at the Towers 
dothe themselves In the latest up- 
to-the-minute designer computer 
jurtde wear, and sport the very 
latest T shirts complete with the 
various designer logos, the most 
up to date T shirt that I have lurking 
at the beck of my wartirobe is a 
Tmger and Tucker fan dub T shirt 
that Auntie Mabel gave lomein 
preference to weanng it herself 
and grving her age away. 

What I could oo with is a T shirt 
logo that would be the envy of ail 
my friends. Something that I could 
wear on a shin around the office 
and for once, be the one wearing 



l he latest 
cfolhaa 
Unfortunately, I have very few 
; myself and not being bles- 
sed with the same kind of fashion 
sense as the other office trendies. 
I will leave the hard work to you, If 
your entry sews up the first prize 

SiTH be the proud owner of a 0MP 
00 printer and an Amstrad Disk 
Onve plus receiving your very own 
KONIX SPEEDKMfi JOYSTICK. 
Put your designs tor the ultimate 
in mimonesque wear onto an A4 
pwce of paper and send H off with 
the tolly rid GPO to arrive here by 
the 8th of January, Don't forget to 
put your name and address on the 
back of your entry and our name 
and address on the front of the 
envelope which is: DESIGNER 
MINION, AMTIX! Towers. PO 
Bolt 10. Ludlow. Shropshire. SYS 
i DB to arrive here no later than the 
8th of January. 




to wasn't a pretty sight , 

&r Howard Moron's Mriy Chn^Tmas party 
had bean intended to promote his new compu- 
ter, bui it had turned into his wake. Ton minutes 
befor*, we'd heard a scream and burst through 
the locked door to find &r Howard dead in his 
office, having entered it through th* glass 
separating i from the rest of hm workshop 

hflfrtat happened, Inspector Rogott?* 

Nouses \ said, waving back the shocked 

miens. We rtdnt want to confuse things for 

Forensic l took m the details of the room , the 

corpse in the office, and an unfamiliar compu- 

In the not too 
distant future will 
it be possible to 
program a 
computer to kill? 

Read this special 
Christmas story 
by RAY GIRVAN 
and find out! 

I«r on the centre bench, an At set-up with 
modem and heavy-duty manipulator The pn 
GOT were pia&sd over a chessboard on a 
table, and a loppted chair lay on the 

nearby. 

Whentheprmitrewhaddon^jtoohac 
look at the computer Wlh any kick I had 
wtness. the marts Lamps were on, and judging 
by the scattered notes, Moxon had been using 
it before he died. There was no screen: he'd 
had a vu^cftp implant Me. Tm not keen 
enough to want wires -n my gray matter, so I 
plugged a pair of projection specs into the bus, 
iQOkedataotankwafLamiwaiedformemem 
orydufnp to aero* by. 

The trouble was there wasn't any. tt was 
wiped clean ! After watohJag the blocks of nop 
bytes fflfcng the tower pages, t flicked to higher 
memory an d found the same, The disks were 

blank in, 
'"Mr Rogoff, can you spare a nw - r ' 
I turned, but ooUWnl see through the *a*of 

bind zeroes whipping pest, f pushed up the 

passes and saw a straggly haired kKJ^n a loud 

floral shirt at my elbow. 
"I'm Duran Mown", he announced ik \% my 

uBoJadeadT 

J nodded. He looked pole, but unmoved 
Shock, \ guessed. Tne rules said thro* hm 
out, but i thought mat I might be able to learn 
something from one of the family, so for once 
I ignored The rules and let him stay. "What is 

54 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 




i 








this"?" i asked, waving at the computer. "The 
new Moxon baby?" 

1 Ya»". he breathed The f»r^1 truly thinking 
computer." 

tet that pass Compotes don't think. Yet 
Vou like computers?*' 

■ SureXs wnat I work at" 
Thai made sense. The firms go Pot kiuW in 

their early teens, before their minds are dut- 
tered with angst about mongagM and pub- 
erty So, he was some kind of a hacker. 
"Was this machine working^" 

■ ■ Uvhuh. He wu teaching « to play chess " 
l could »m Captain wfa mt and 

her crew were finished. ' ' You'd better qo now, 
Duran. I've got my job to do." 
He ecumed away , and we hed a conferwicai- 

CMISE OF HEATH 

"What's the verdict^ I asked, 'Accident, 
fickle, or whai?" 

^ptam sniffed reflectively on a menthol 

t's an odd one. He drod from a severed 

after hitting the glass. No-one else in 

n, and nothing larger men a cat coiM 

in or out with that door factad." 

he tT.pped on the tha*r i+ 

Five malree from the glass?" she scoffed. 

'And mat glass is thick! He hi it faster than 

jut) a stumble I know people walk through 

ojBM doors sometimes, but the partition was 

Gown* with siickwm* ft was hardly invisible." 

* Y know, one t**id could get in or out/ 1 1 

''information, after ail ih* modem m 

"'infofTTiaiion can I kill anyone;' 

I laughed. - Try tatting that to the WaJI Street 

financiers who look the big dive when they 

ard the markel had crasnm! It's too messy 

have been sufdde I know, but suppose 

spiked the' computer by phone? 

floiab and Muitipnse have wanted Moxon off 

the scene for years 

Industrial assassination WT>y not! This 
Oew computer was to make the opposition 
kobk antiquated Maybe they killed him lo steal 
the memory map " 

GooO^tjtfl^ Wl ymp^ftg p^onj birt p tew 

qualms vi^ereenter toxm m hie coffee might 

•.man feel crazy enough to run through 

the wBNurt see when the fcab reports are 

back " I stood and gathered up Moxon's 

never know, maybe the computer 

That would be a Change from the butler' 

to f&grat that qMp new myrwr^ 

brushing snow from my collar m the 

"D eoafl mem lover when Garfield, my aaafatant, 

he said, hold- 
Star l before my 

STIER 1 ' screamed the 
page pk: of the chalk 

s been reading too 

f* he?" GarfwW asked 
Vitas. One of the greats, trite Ghandter and 
Archer: 1 

"Hey, I don I read classes/ 4 

I chuckled. J Philistine. He wrote a story 

t a &vb&& cytxxg throttling its inventor" 

I read on. 'Murder machine mangles moo 

ogui in basement broodbatrr the text went 

then went downhill into Luddita ranting*. 

itttow d they get past the guards lo Ma the 

pftotor 

CAMERA MOUSE 

Look at the angle — they sent a camera 
mouse through the ventilator 
1 Tp think there's no (aw against printing this 

MuAr 4 

tugged a lock of ftalr si the back of my neck. 
I'm womed." « admitted. "These days, who 
knows? I want lo tee a amen machine m 
action Show mesa notes to me super' rf you 
find anything m them. I'm oil lo the Moxon 

tabs" 

The an was lull of knives af Moxon mduv 
tnes. The news splash rrught be conjecture, 
but it had thrown enough dirt on their wonder 

AMT1X Christmas Special 19H6 55 







e 



fi kin any chance of an early launiK 

tnffl dear/" t hbwIijIw mf .; 

the computer dtdfRrnur dor f 
there to a groin of tMh f he i 
factory workers falMlbeen 
into assembly robots that 
trained to am*d them Could that hav« 
penedhere?" P"^ 

"ttardty". Mid Griffiths, e an-rtatH tired-look^ 
<r^ecadermcwhow*& settling veryi 
Ms role as Uoxon'A acting successor 




ard didn't 
a cool tidy 
totypeyou 
Where rs 

match bo* on 

"I'm not a 
bo* m 

Faint pride 
furttvanesa 

,B M#e! U 

boaTf V^ 
disbelief 
tie box 



teases/' He led me I 
a the working | 

1 i coukJ on 





ow about 





doesn 4 1 interest \ 
tit a death r maybe a i 
Mui^V? " Ludwfg " 
^averaJ tiQftho&e.'' 

My scalp prickled. Whit had I gtumbtod on? 
'Go on?" I said, fumbkng otft a pen and 
mtebock yf /^ 

In Wagner CkrtterdammMhg, Siegfried 
is riwd«0 by Hagen , and In 

"ThejSnTdo, Ludwig", wHH Griffiths, smiling. 
Mrtfy/ 

I laughed rwrfulfeJ 1 You had fna going tfwre. 

I Kfrgot t's an ejjteri System Tefl me your 

me" \ 1 Said rjfytmpulfe. wanting to test it. 

Vc*i already knot* if. Ludwtg replied 

swegrf/, / 

etaofo^rdiu'\fc4aki. 

1 " You Ye i rying to confuse me, Herr I 

"Yea". * sari. &nnng up the 

impressed, was Moxon's home 

wmtr* 

p "ftame aroWtecture." Griffiths, 
conventional store, not the 
devices w*)*w used to get U 

"Sir Howard 1 s nephew sard ft 
funk. Was he . ?" >^ / 

Griffiths looked bihods 
crazy Wd?" / J 

l take rt you kpriw himj/ 

TT» queasy expression 
worked her* lil Six moot ha 
him tor spending more time 
dwng hft )ob H&s 
wrecking our user net _ 

"tiadbasn'l tike you, 
-'"Don't get the wrong 
held a grudge agam?C ihe company, not his 
uncle. Tfwy were fnenjfc \n tad, only Howard 
stopped us pressing charges over his pranks/ 1 
Yeah. But the kid strH might' ve blamed him 
some He wasn't Exactly grtef-stricfeen. I tooty 
it I or shoqtr; tyit 

Hard to fxtoe You know the wa 
youngster* are. Wreck a computer jn you'd 
get e reaction, but a death m theaWfsV we 

"digeated that a 
other idea? You said 
— yfartLudwig 
edhi* 
True 





■ He 

te dumped 
lturing than 
m and 




panicked when we visited. «o we picked Nm 
up. we found . ." 

"I'm coming over", I said, and sji&ppecf " 
the radio, JJ^TW talk later. r> GngHgrWd 
technical noies tadMher for 

tout red -haired man JOTris forties, 
m rny office, 
leresttng "\ I said, Sejvfhfeen ghosi 
counts m major banks. tliagaJ disk erasure 
otls fitted. Two priors for hacking and data 
aud ■ 

"You might as well know he said. "I 
for Moxon Ha fcrl&w of my bank 
and kept quiet as long as i passed 
RoJab's secrets. HoHryou think he kept 
erf us? 1 * 
•d check thai taUrm the po^graph, but 
he looked too shattered 4o be devious. 
"That makes ydu a murder suspect. 1 ' isaid 
You've go? me Knew how. and I'll tx*t 
tTarJKw hts eystam by phone and pr< 
mod the machine to fling him art the wiff the 
next time he stood by the wet do arm. Am i 
right?" 

I'd no reel #wsrjinee, but hoped to frtghten 
him into a ^rrfession. He juat sal looking 
giootny. so I left him to think on it while I got 
my own act together for (he inquest. 

The courtroom was packed. I could 
Moron's family, and. Griffiths 
Up above, the public gallon/ wee | 
reporters ciulchto mmicameras. Ufnew the 
result they wanftd: a real live murdering com- 
puter woijld jniiko good copy for months. To ^ 
make sure they got it. the infamous Ted Enqpft^ 
of the U^rs 1 Soc was there too — the^ttest 
rep money could buy, they' said 1 
t^d evidence: I'd doubts about Errors 
wiii^hingttHghttur(Hlp, 

SSheena Evans waS presiding. Two 
retiring, shejpdked Mke a gnm old 
x , bul no-one ww Sharps *^*n it came 
computer (aw. ^^^^ 

"So", she said, concluding the preamble, 
You con-dude. Mr flogoff, that Sir Edward 
was^ushad or thrown through the glass by the 
arm, after the machine had been reprog- 
med by phone by person unknown Is' 
just a 0MW?" 

""No, you've seen the forensic report, 
one else was there io do it* 1 

I see there's one other i 
by Mr Enoch 
noch, an unctuous fellow in ^vyjj^STjrt, 
smiled across at me, 

CHESS GRAND 

Grand Master Franjtf£ Borodin. 

A thin r goateed man m woollen hat and blue 
suede jacket entered the witness box I won- 
dered what the devi I a chess master was doing 
here* 

'Grand Master' . the coroner said 'You 
were given a photo to study. Please tell us what 
t depicted / ' 

" A chess game in progress 

' And how was it going?' ' 

White to win m six moves, having initiated 

i Lugh's Enctoeum Gambrt. Fourth Variation 

\ '*To put thts in perspective/' Enoct! piped 
up "tnis was the game on the board in Sir 
Howard's workshop. The computer, playing 
black was oarai n to lose M 

Tnet e was A rustJe from the gallery More 
shapes rjf B^rce, 

"We all k n nwr tfc. Mr Enoch , ' ' Justca E vans 

called. 'Now QU^^please!'' She banged her 

gavel tor siiencefSnie fact is. we have little 

evidence as Vftrw Sir Howard died. The 

ily collect Ad rr 
ErrrA 
cutprVi 



lure. 



fl 



notes and got up. I'd 

1 1 was less and leal 



I Mil 



hntr 



Jlinged 



forth 
the 

stop and the 1 ! 
lha compute 
ma and 
Griffiths pushed up to 



s were having a ftekj 
Enoch was holding 

Apftcaftorie, In view of 

» %pect re e eor ch will 

^bAdastroysdGteaty 

fhjslration at los- 



!*■ ■ This is idiocy! 



You can't impute human motives to a 
machine!" 

"Why not? Your own preea rekMaes claim 
theylhtnk ,J 

Whether they do or not. they're sale, I say* 
Tested m every conceivable state. I have the 
software engineers' reports/* 

Enoch looked pained "ft would lake mill- 
ions of years to test every stale of I he mega- 
bytes of operating system* h * 

Griffiths 1 (ace was red. "Wn demonstrate 
publicly, any time"!' 

"Advertising ofarTunsaft product tS hardty 
emicaJ In thetpMrlsts of safety 

"' Safety "> p 6ntftth5 snarled, "Mercenary 
You've b*in bought by RoW Me grapfead 
the throat . The iecunty man dragged 

ro^lf and away, sun shouting 
was ernbansssing Sadly he was probably 
it, but proving that wafi another thing 

Enoch straight enecjKs tie and ghnnao at tha 
cameras, "Afl I was I 

Someone prrxkled me is it trvw they'll 
scrap the machines? n was fruran 
looking verf fazed 'Wreck s computer 
you'll Mf a roactfton- Gntmhs hadaiM. 

^fi likely Unlp» . . .' Y _ -__ 

He looked at me. wiJd-eyed. and I reaTiseQl^ 
knew. "Tell me what happened/ 1 4 said 
'Hey 1 ' ' Enoch called ' ' Keep your mouth 




THE TRUTH 

The cameras circled us Come on. Quran, 
what s the truth? M 

1 1 killed my uncle," he said quietly 
" He* ntmblirigr ' Enoch shouted. I pushed 
him away It was too late. They'd ait heard. 

How? I asked gently, pushing the repor- 
ters awjy i® a decant radius. 

" I P#yad IfiekS on hifn. And on his firm after 
they ^Kked me. I stole mernory, wrote i^aHiti 

"That doesnl usually! 
"is facie was stg^. "K 

When hastened rt , he told me the 
messing abouttwl lo stop Put on extra safety 
codes Buljmad to break ml ff took three 
monthsjpnthe mght he died, I downloaded all 
the stanand wiped ihe machine. That's ai." 
1 iMidgnmry 

Oh. that. I knewheuaedavu-chip To keep 
from stopping me. I cleared the field to 
deck and fto*e the dewe." 

I racaited the impenetrable wail oi digits id 
seen through my projection specs "In plain 
Engtah, you mean he'd be blinded until he cut 
me powerr 

"Yes Id4dn1th?nk.. « 
'Some prank/ r I said, disgusted; turning to 
the mikes, "Now 1 know what happened. S* 
Howard had been blackmailed Ernest EtfdI. 
and had incriminating data on rile Thnii nighf 
he was at the computer when suddenly he 
couldn't see — but he could hear the modem 
lone and dnves running He guessed data was 
being tapped off. probably thought Erroi had 
broken in The slop key was disabled by 
Durans routine. So he teapt up in a real hurry 
10 pwil the p«ug at the wall socket. He got the 
a if eel inn wrong — and ran into the plate glass 
waif, ft wasn't the computer's fault at a)l. kp I 
sighed Whet a stup*d way to go!" 

"There was no more lo be said. The verdict 
stayed, me press had their lurid sJo/y; but the 
Moson machines weni on sale As for Quran, 
he was guifty of onty minor charges of data 
theft and reckless computing, and got off wrth 
a year's ban from the public nets me psych 
boys put down his impassiveness lo shock, 
and found him normal, rl a little immature. I 
doubted that diagnosis 

'Why did yog confess?" I'd asked after the 
inquest. 

"They would have banned the new 
machines." 

I shook my head sadly. Nothing about 
remorse or conscience, They worry about 
machines that might think. They should be 
mors bothered about people that don't feel 

Duron gnnned broadly and turned to go. 
■See you, Mr Rogott. And Merry Christmas!" 

There goes the real Moxon's Monster, I 
thought, as I watched him amble out 






MAKE A MERRY CHRISTMAS C ARD 
FOR GREMLIN 



WINL: 



WINl^ 



APHILIPS MIDI 
COMPACT DISC 

HIFI 



&OT 



GR 1 



^MLIN 
GRAPHICS 

GAMES 




20 RUNNERS UP 
TO RECEIVE 
ANY1 GREMLIN 
GRAPHICS GAME. 



Christmas time is always busy 
hire at the Towers. Not content 
with making my lite a misery 
they've roped in the chaps and 
chaposses from Gremlin 
Graphics to make it even worse 
Therein be TO carol Ringing Tgr me 
this Christmas. Do you Know what 
they've made me do 9 1 tel^ you 1 The 
drty rats have told me r not asked 
mmd you, to moke them their 
Ghhssy card (his year To make it 
worse for simpering old me 
they've gone and cut the anginal 
design into to little twts — arid they 
expect me to assemble the 
damned ih mg 

Well. I'wa decided 10 pull myself 
up end stand my ground and say 
m a big loud voice "NOr\ This 
d»dn t realty please the Doc Mar- 
tened Pub Ewbc, Graeme Kjdd. but 
I was relent lous. Did I win? Did I 
heck' We've come to a kind of 
compromise . . . 

it you would be ever so sweet 
and luverrly you can help me out 
by asembfong the card for me. I 
wwid be vety grateful. So grateful 
ui (act that the vuluptuous Auntie 
Sue Oumn an<j Uncle Ian Stewart 
ere otianng some fabulous 
pnzypoos to the firs! few person- 
ages who have the* entry drawn 
from the broom cupboard bucket. 
The first prize is a weff^n excess 
of 300 quid's worth of a Philip's 
compact disc midi hi-fi system, 
But don't despair if you don't win 
that my httie cherubs > carta a sec- 



ond pme the Gremlin mob are 
ottering a fabulous Sharp Ghetto 
blaster A thnd prize wilt see a 
I ucky person receive any 5 Gremlin 
Graphs frames of their choice. 
And there *s absolutely, not in any 
way, need 1o worry if you don't win 
either of those as 20 lucky runners 
up can each have a Gremlin game 
—in fact — any one they want, Brii- 
Iteltj 



JIGSAW CARD 

Righty ho then boys and girls 
here's how to do it (ff you're wor- 
ned about using those nasty shaip 
scissors then ask mummy to do n 
frxyou — okay?) 

Best ihmg to do is lo cut the 
whole muddied up montage out 
and suck it onto a bit of stiff card 
(Snip, snip, stick) and then cut it all 
up again ready to fit it bach 
together again, If you don l want 
to rum your magazine then photo- 
copy the page (All seems a bit 

pointless roally, stilt!) 

When you've made the card 
Stick <t all down on another piece 
of paper and post I your find result 
plf to: 

The Merry Jigsaw comp, AMTlX! 
Towers. PO Box 10. Ludlow. 
Shropshire 3*81 DB 

It must arrive by first post on 
January 8th so get to ii , 




POST CODE 

CIRCLE THE GAME YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN IF IT 
COMES ON ITS OWN: 

THE WAY OF THE TiGER THING ON A SPRING 
BOUNDER MONTY ON THE RUN JACK THE NtPPER 

AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 57 




Will, dear readers* hers I am 
again unvartmg another mega 
Isttrtg of lucky wmn^fi, Lit* I* 
one mega bout of chaos at pre- 
sent with everyone dashing 
around trying to do half a dozen 
joo* at once and poor Crumbly 
doing his best to slow down time 
itself so he can fit everything; 
into Ws very tight Christmas 
schedule. Between you and I. I 
think his bottle is starting to go. 
He keeps muttering to himself! 
Anyway* let's get down to busi- 
ness straight away with the 
names of all you lucky winners. 




GREEN CHOMP COMP 

PI RAN AH s are well known tor 
er^oy mg a quick n. t>ble and MaruJ y 
Key ho fhf>ir fix it all fierson, 
decided that spmache is a deirgtii- 
ful fast bite Popeye quite enjoys 
the odd tnl of the green veggie 
rmmserf wh*ch Keeps the doctor 
a way and Brutus well under con- 
trol The only control exerted upon 
you in this competition, ihough, 
was lo come up with some dialogs 
for our nautical hero The three 
best entneseach recede a Popeye 
Alarm Clock, a T shirt and a copy 
of the game and they art P Her- 
rtdge. of The Hendre, NP3 4TH, A 
Salisbury of Lupin Way. CG16 
7DX, and Owen Newt, of Heatfi 
Hurst (toad. NW3 2RU Well done 
to them and to the runners up who 
win an soon be envying their 
favourite cartoon character on the 
Amstrad 

POPEYE GAME WINNERS 



Mart.r, Htm DttCOrt Road. NOJl SJX; 
Sbwi Jonai Wfchiow Cam. BttH SBC; 
Da . >d Ww, T am Aud r OAJM 4T*> J D Pal- 
ter. Hcn«Th«mp l*ne, 544 SQt; Etohl* Con- 
rw, So™*flf.**d Ay#^rf WJU5 OeZ. Ptuhp- 
B#roh N«iP«twid A*anua. 4*t fAH; Mart 
Waajfcn, Hpaand Ptrwi.. RGU WJV. M*# 

HiiiiiTimnaiWjeJ, ts*a am. f«-i no* 



h. Avon; Mr Wigrtnav 
H»f Cftiunt, DNi T OJT; Paut IrajK, Rao 
lath 0W4MI. SY2 SAB; Ami i a I Raadat, 
VtonborOuO* Awm*. HP17 0HT; Kail Oal- 
iow* T . MariJand Bttaal. OEM 6RR. kaa Mian. 
fcp*om Uo**. OAT 60U. AMM riidff, CHI- 
flng Eail toe 4HH. T Sc^i^Kr Brad**^ 
Road HO? lOY; Tqny M1H1.. BruilftWPKk 

Court, -U41 SLW, Amtmi raadar. Ouaan 
Stiwt RMf SAU. M#rtm ^hp*!**. VCTOpnn 
Road, tf 11 SAE. Stan fr. iW *ft Woodward 
Road, RW 4SH 5tn« AHiljona. SMrafrrt 
Road, fit 14 BET, Mlartm Jaffray Ruafttn 



Annul, Bfltl Hi. Eric W,i 

UN P Cee 7T& a n*fch*f . km Edawda 

Orm, TWIT BM. CtHford Lanondoa, 
Sa#ajni Read S£2S SOSl P La****. a*n 
G*#mar TU 1QS, Rata* Totay, Maoarafta 
Tctk*. SW3 SHU. Mart* ftd**, #Ujthl**n 
R*ad. «W1 1 Ml; t Ofry V*fflM r Folfcaatftna 
Road. Penimwth. Chnw Baitnwni, Hawi'- 
w Road SC4 1ML. 



SCOOBV DOOBY DDOOOOO! 

It *as out with the pretty pencils 
end gaudey gouche for Hw 
Scwty Doo OQmpefrtKsrt and 
everyone itiat entered showed a 

58 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



drverse range of co+wr$ indeed 
whilsl they added the finishing 
touches to Scooby and Shaggy. 
Elite were offering 50 copies of the 
Stoofey Doo game to the SO best 
coiourers ar>d after a prismatic 
March., we four>d the bwt fifty. 

WINNERS 

Jfthn C-cmw*v. G^rwMk Qttv*. fiH JON. 
Pau( Sctujf h. hi, SoutK* ay . VW1 1 6PU B 
ShaltKrti»i, HuMon Avatiw. M2D &Hj. 
Giann Todd. CaMteway. Nt1i7L$. A »•#*■ 
bury, Lupki Wav, COtfi ?Dx. Oaiwi Bndjpa, 
Ewarvaart Cteaa. DavQn; Ciri» Pa vm\^ &** 
tern Road. NG5 1FV, MafU Warripw*.. Wn«I 
iia*d Awu* n TOIfl THY; S*manlhj Pitl. 
llaaaQ DHva. Hft4 OftB, Warran Pwariofl, 
Stlwvnny Ortw, CW1 3«6 F Opbui Ti^i 
Fiatfana. Vc Yiq*, LLM 9CTV L^fri4*y WH- 
aon, Waal VWw. ITS TPH. AmtLi RvaoV. 
Quavn Slrwt. HM7 9AU, H C Saun^af 1. fan 
Avatiua, H04 1&U. DavM MafUn, Pylchlay 
Way. WW «F; Ftkrfu,rd inn*. LvmvQcid 
Cra^ant l*» atJ: Sla^afl 6o+(o^k, 
WaatrtiaraMd Ao*4 aajl 1HN- Jfltin Vu-n. 
tfantnor Stxaat. BOS *dZ t J D Pttttar. Rowtti- 
om« La^a, 544 4Q*; La^t* tttaiw. SVhjiJt 
rtow Mana, Wfl ZLF Patar Rabba^a. Naw- 
Unda. tK? W¥, Damvan RPMKA Gn>«- 
vafw c&u^l, Haft*, r ina Turfof d r Crankhall 
Lar« r WHO C€E, Ho6*n Mnt-Oajk IM, 
BTO «HC: Maitfl- Cigaa. K«tN*awi Road, 
awn JJfi; Alan Ruitan, Do^rtiav. TA24 
WPT; Paulo An«lA. Siiarbrwaa Road, SWfl 
JUL, Rimini Hotai SAulhwklli, flN4 4MG r 
K*«in Buraa. I^K^aaway. lanca: Math** 
WelLH^urn Bmt kfn^d Ri>*d , 6L20 ONL, Pat«f 
Brafriwtli, Oftvanporl Qardafta, BL1 ?Li. 
QordOn Havward. grachh«IJ 0«M B LUG 
2LT. Oanwl Qe4daack. Maudlin Lana, BN4 
JPP. La* Sumrwra, Boniilyan. SAt4 7HS: 
VkltMhi Raynckli. Roaaalfin Road, S04 
lOB; David Qfbtwi. Ouarr> Garda^a. OH7 
7Dfl ; DarfMan Kb 1^ , Br .in^drtl* A vanua, CUB 
4LW. A J Ptiitootl. Fwdwicti fliit, SO 14 
70F RkMti] Mprri^on. AaNyruvw^ CF4 1BE , 
Andrvit McSftana, Lingn*4d Walk, NNie 
WS: P Smtjf, Uppmflharm , WH| «HQ ; D^v.d 

J Raad. fiufmjda QaFda^a, AB? MJW. Mark 
R Ld»D. Blunt* H»M RMd CM* lER. Enml 
Mfaton. joealyn Oatdarta, BTb flftA, Twty 
Oi^nn, OjaVal Road, CV3 «T. Andf*w 
Aaiatoy. PortUnd Road, OXZ fiV; Jon Rua- 
aaH. Wladayi Road. SOi SJJ; rh*4 Moya. 
Otd Harlow, CM 17 DOU, Elain* Cofinot, 
Spnr>grta4d Avanu*. WA4 DflZ. Rabacca 
QaHiH. Ovaan Lama. SI I *L N 



STRIKE FORCE AMTIX ? 

PIRANHA were certemiy giving 

you all orders to fire at will wfwi 
they asked you write a Strike Force 
Cobra style dossier on the team 
you would send iu mliliNite AMTIX 1 
towers. Weil there was no shor- 
tage of mercerwy looking nasties 
who were ready 10 join the cause 
The two best entries, however, will 
be jetting off to Combat Zone 
resplendent in their PIRANHA T 
shirts as mey annihilate members 
of AMTIX 1 with nasty, sticky red 
paml Their winnmq entries are 
displayed here and they belong lo 
Philip Gates of Cumbarhnd 
Avenue, TO22 4BQ and Peter 
White Of Nottingham Close, S31 
7BP The runners up will all receive 
e copy of Sirik# Force Gobm. 

WINNERS OF THE GAME 

Mm Kaftn MarafiaJi 0**** Road. D€M 
1BG P NfwiMflm. Aipan Ckna. OM TUB; 
Aiidfrw wuhama, meeafon ottw*, cmu 
f.PN. Ri^njrd Kirfcmarv Sidcup HM. DAM 
6JA, Jahfi Owiway. CVari E U Dttw r OM 
?ON Oraama Ro^an, Kilbum Ctoaa. rt&3 
7DH Da^C* RVth. Mvmglpn On¥», f*H32 
UL. Pad Rotnofi, Part, Lvia, TSl 34.0, Jon 
Muiwil, Wi*eat Road. S0 1 WJ. M Ha*n 
aon, Bufnf Oak Lana, DA15 SOL Oavnd 
HaalN. H*n»a«>rth Cinaa. BTS 3LN. P N#w- 
marv, Clavadon Raad. A&23 100, NpehuLa* 
Hum. OaahiM flo** SIB MJ: lain Sagi, 
Wfalbym Road. Sflfi 70S; J^irtaexm Bwi 
flriee. OWO IPO; Vamon Hmn**. E<lai* 
Oaaa, 1KT #J2: Andraw Johmaon^ 
e ta f Mpa e w iTpa Road, Sf 5ft: AndrawOafibr. 



Inh Fann. LA2 W3Z Daan SucalAotl, 
BantwaB $b+*U Hprthantft; Ian fcurfaa, 
Sdphy Bill, SP5 1RZ. Phi4ip HarrHoa 
Vina R»^ SS7 50t: D A o^oct 
Cftarnwod Road, LIM 0B4J; Frank Of-«d^ 
hoanki. Bardbroolt Road. &aa <*RE_ Mart 
Danrtav Baianaria Orrva, MP** SJA, Rotaart 
Haaajrtl, Hoayiltvd Ctoaa, HP23 BPL; 
Staphan Hurnprwarm, &&o4a Crrje, La 
4EW Tony VaflHA, Folaa«tena Road, P03 
flLR, Da/Tan G-r»*n, BAjtrta ftcxad, BCt 1HJC; 
Nbcriaai Aldrklaa. Caltwlon, TFJ trx. 
NktMria* Jomtaon, Siocaiofi Road. L43 
5TN. O Vour Nooaa. Wtantraa, SSl 3 1 PC , f 
lAahaf. IUjnaJkffa| fe*4,W &OJ M F«*th 
■fl, San^iona Roao\ WU 3SO. WaH-n 
Pooia, Haratsanli Road r SEfl 1LW, Mh.na«l 
Mic:N>l«on. T V na T*rr K a r 5RA XTV; Korth 
Maaon, Hawhaawulh Stra**, Uiv*Tp0O»; I 
MmQham. Ti»£#i«* Cloaa, Cornwall, 
Nattwn Hawaii. Bafeham* noad. C0» * Jt. J 
Mi\ HofwyaucaW Road, SO? JBW. Ian 
Bartwnan r Birch Otura, HU10 6LH. Mwiin 
Foj. Surnnwfrlfll Drrva. BTlT ORE. Oitvar 
Seo«. B**tfcl*v. Kfl* WLj Jorirt Soonaya, 
Kandal CoMft. CwiS 4JN; J BMfftca, 
W*«trnwal«nd Road, H11 THN r Rlesardo 
Siw^aa. ScMarrt Ctoaa, SOal set; flrwn 
M,rwl*i^. Taaavn. BAU BOW; Kavtn Pal 
ton, Wharfdada, HP? 5tO 



{SOflOUING ALONG 

Electric Dreams asked you do 
give ys your impression of wtml 
you thought Tony Clarke's favour- 
ite snack, a hardware i$c}roil 
looked like WetL (here was a small 
shortage of enines which means 
thai 1 3 copies of the superb game 
TEMPEST will have to stay at 
home - You i% peop^ who 
decided not too enter because I 
never win anything", got at all 
wrong. Ah welL ai leasT (he people 
wtio did onlBr will be able to enjoy 
playmci Tp/Tipe$i from Che comfori 
of Iheir own horror 




TEMPEST WINNERS 

a ftch i r l Our^, Ran^a-mora- Drtv*, BH2l 
HM; RhaiT Hiddlalon, TaJaarrv SAAd BOW, 
Katth Oow, Laudat C^*m, OUIBUK; Ouif. 
ltd, AJdvr &vm r A17 3RR. ion Rtauafl, 
Wndan Raad,$d ijj t Hr . 4*m*» A-Fmni 
i*r Cloaa, Nf J1 SUB, John SftetotLM, C«n 
eaten Road. 0t« IDA. iohn B^rd, 
Sandcrefl. TTT «AOi Rooatt H*ttafl. Hoi- 
lynald Cteaa k HR SfH.; Martin Fo*. fwn- 
ma*tiili CNiv, am ORE. Mr Emc WHaon, 
EaflAai Lana, CBt 2TC, G O r a if i afaj . Bm- 
caan* Cksaa, Bts jjje, Jarrod Clancy, 
S*ml?*f Cloaa. PCitt WG Mar« PottanH 
Malford Ooaa r $75 Hf Etecriaai l, H#*n 
bridga, Ma«a«nha4d Road. HG1 2TA, 
Madaam R Mufti, Zailand Hftad, QH2 «L 
iorinCofiw^Ol^E^Ori^Q^fQtt.lan 
Oovglaa, Kaiiwd C^aaca^if PLft ftJt 
Law4a Sialaf. Kouihwold Man * W9 2tF 



Hanrvaon Road F SC4 LdrV 
don MU **•• Itianati Marahai, Oa*t^ R«d 



OEM ISO; tan Barrunan, BavnOrrva, hVlO 
flLfi; Tanottrji HflNtCftCK, Cnocalaya Onia, 
TF1 4T9; Rlchafd &panca, ttdrynofa Road, 
BTH aOC; M*ch*aJ Man. Baamc roH. NW1 
9HC; ttu fi n Ltpaornb, Tnorncfon. HM11 
liU; 0fi«m4 TMor. Davaton Road r 074 
2NR. La^anca FkartaoaA. Bandhifla L 1314 
3DN, Paui rctwsKdi, Madnuf Road, SOI 
STW, human Ha-vall, B*li:Kamp Road, €09 
4.<f Paul Robvon Park L«na, TBI 5LO 
Sam Matdt a#n, Amaihim Rr>ad HP9 2UO; 
L*cnOirt.t«,F.i«^La^CV27lM;P 
hh«rfA«rii.C«vvadoARoad,8S»lOO;Alaii 
Vi.t-Fotti, Haath laural Road. faWj JHU. A 
Vrtwartattuprv, Cnanbowna Road, E T5 3DB: 
Staphan Hurnptiraya, ^ood* C#o«. L2B 
4CW 




a v 



*# 



** 



&* 



•> 



fi 




DE NAME'S BUGSV 
CRL. asked Bveryone lo dangle a 
carrot in front of each of Ihe 
AMTIX 1 minions lhat would have 
them aM Ironing merrily around 
Thia wa& a competition that 
everyone got ihafr leefh mio and 
mere wa* H barrow lull of ideas. 

Unfortunately, only one of you 
coukJ win thetf very own 3ft: cuddly 
bunny and Greeme Rogan, of Kii 
hum Ctose. f^G3 7DH is the lucky 
winner who will have to build a very 
large hutch m which to keep his 
pnjre. The 30 runners up will have 
few work to do fo accornmodate 
their prizes as a copy of Buf&Y 



should fit very nicety into Iheir 
dar acordtire thank you very much 1 

BUGSY WINNERS 

Rotoan Haaatl H aB^H M CSaaaft, HP» •*(.; 
lanBanirnan^iW^On^.hlJI^IAMlLaTn 
a aw atii al , Om**r Road, MM 1BO, Jarrad 
C4ancy. Bambar Cloaa, Hit JOO.; 4ohA 
■haBoaf. Coronation Road. OtSJ JOA, 
Dary4 Ward. Naartjury do*. If B WJ; V^ 
non R Hatton. fdaia Cloaa, BK7 aJf, 
Mtchoaaa JaAnadti, BliiiiinU Road L«3 
STtt; Pmrf WotyaomR ara Lana r TBl M.Q, ■& J 
Boatoca.., Waatrnorland Road. NQ1 1MH; 
t li i i n La?a comft . ThanapnpR. RM11 liU. 
■iinhial Mrhilaoii. T^na TaHPaoa. BUB UV ■ 
aaana Raa Jdd J i. B aa* Ty O d i dana , CMT BTAj 

aar* *-■ 

MSB4TR. 



* 



Albums! Books! Games! T-Shirts! 

Courtesy of ARIOLASOFT 

ALL Up For Grabs! 




Ever watcft CENTURIONS? rt's a 
great new super duper cartoon 
muring some realty mighty 
heroes who are always around to 
save the day Three dean living 
guys and oao super fido dedicated 
t& the defence of you and I against 
the art atoii hordes that attack 
earth the same time every Satur- 
day morning. Sounds like it'd 
make a oood computer game, 
doesn't pi"? Well that's e*actJy what 
Anoiasoft think — at this very 
moment they are converting the 
amies and adventures of the t f N- 
TUWONS into a thnlling new 



Inthemeanni7>eAfio*ft§o«riave 
decided to donate some goodies 
lo give to you , \ he best of which is 
an Ariotosolt Goody Bag This 
package consists of several des*^ 
aw* objects, including live fob*- 
roofi record atoums. three great 
books, four Anolasoft games, a 



Centurion model and four swell 
Tee Shots' Mere words alone can- 
not describe triis prize so take a 
look at the piccy on this page and 
gasp away. Generous Anoia have 
ateo given us twenty five tee shirts 
for you oh-so-kicky reactors. 
interested 7 Well we're going to 
make you work tor trvs one. Here's 
the competition 



Desprte the prestigious title of 
AMTTX! Editor and tfie maturity his 
\ab requires. Mr Crumbly Harding 
is well into CENTURIONS. You 
should see him run up and down 
the office shouting Power 
Extreme*', pretending ihe office 
dustbin »s an alien robot Biff 1 Bap" 
Bop 1 he goes, laying into the £ho 
with a manic QkMkfn in his eyes A 
few kic ks ara J a punch later theevii 
bin is deleeted, no longer will he 
and hts rubbish hordes tytanize 



the office. Mateo+nn then pops into 
the toilet with a smug look on his 
face only to return thirty seconds 
later in his mikt mannered AMTiX 1 
Editor secret identity. Thi* is ail 
getting a bit tedious as Mr Mat- 
COlnfa antics do tend to spread 
rubbish about the place, and 
though his Centurion imitations 
art entertaining to say the least, 
we do value his abilities as an 
Editor a brt more. 

Thts is where you can he4p. The 
plan is to booby trap the office 
dustbin m some way so as to give 
Malcolm a real shock next time he 
tnes to do battle with it. It has to be 
a b*g shock though, hopefully a big 
enough shock to curtail his bin 
bashing career indefmitery, Just 
design a MaicoHn Harding 
fnghtiener thai win sit nice and 
innocently in the bin until attacked , 
than rt should burst into scary ani- 
mation. Send the design to us and 



me creator of the beat artii-Cnjm- 
Wy device will have his or her 
efforts rewarded with an Anota 
Goody Bag. The beat of the rest 
wilt receive one of the twenty five 
T- Shirts. So get cracking and send 
your entries to STOP CRUMBLY 
PRATTINO ABOUT AMTIXt 
Towara v PC Box 10. Ludlow, 
SnropeWre SYt 108 10 amve 
before the 8th of January 1987, 
and till m the form below so we can 
send you the correct T Shirt size 
should you be a winner* 



Na 



Name 



-i ..,..-. 






,. Post Cod* .... 



| T SHIRT SIZE (S f M or L) 



AMTtX Christmas Special 1 986 
I 
I 



59 




THE 




TOTALLY 
UTTERLY 

BRILLIANT 






TIR NA NOG AMTJ 




If you liked Dun Daracft. en joyed Marsport and loved Heavy On The Magick then you'll 
positively rave over the original Gargoyle Games adventure — TIRNA NOG which 
has been awarded an Accolade in AMTtX 1 Capturing all 
the atmosphere of a mystical adventure you must gwde 
Cuchulainn through the wastelands and forest of 
TirNaNog an his search for the the elusive 
seal, (Not the flabby nautical 
variety of course!) 









^■NH 



I 





A VERY SPECIAL OFFER 
FOR AMT1X! READERS 

The Legendary Celtic Adventure 
La unches Itself on The Amstrad 

through your 
favourite 
magazine 1 



7 








A 



J 







H "J 








*^^HT i^l ^HHS? 
























j 




























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» 




\ 




























































:-&*ij %J'Ax ; ; 


, '■' , '^ 


HIHI 



1 — . 



o 



tf r raa r^og 



It's exclusively Available Through 
NEWSFIELO, The Publishers Of AMTIXf 

Not Available Anywhere Else 
In The United Kingdom. 

K 







TI R NA NOG OFFER, AMT1XI, 
PO Box 10, Ludlow, 

Shropshire, S Y6 1DB 

Yes please. I'm realty into Gar- 
goyle Games stuff and want to 
experience the delights and chal- 
lenge of TIR NA NOG 

Please send me ( ) copies of 
TIR NA NOG on cassette/disk 
(delete as appropriate). 



I enclose a cheque for , 



C995 (cassette) £1395 (disk) 
-made payable to Newstieid Ltd. 



NAME 



ADDRESS 




POSTCODE ^ 




SOYOl 
MEGA PROG] 




The Making Of 




Hewson's new arcade adventure game 



011 i* not a name you'll 
immediately recognise but when I 
mention the Amstrad version of 
ftMtyWtf^rr pf Av*kn and the Zjpp 
4ur«Hrr a might jim ring a belt, 
Keuh ha* been working OH the 
Amstrad version dJ Hrwsons 
Ftrttard for six months now and 
has kepi a diary nf his progress. 
Thai diary, for the flr^t time 
be revelled herr in AMTIX! to give 
j II you would- be programmer an 
idea of i he hard wnrk that actually 
into producing such a ftame. 
Rcadtml 

JUNE I9S6 
Pyr&cur$f< for the to e cmim . ww 

fttO fighting baik. with bugs-trawl- 
ing out from everywhere when 
Steve Crow turned up with the 
preliminary version of Fir* ford. 
And very pn -ked too, lols 

i n a fid medieval si reel 
soma, I took a Jew seconds «di 
fyrdflfrer to waggle 4 joystick I 
return to PvTd*a#w, hating II, when 
the BON. Andrew Hcwsufl tells 
me I'm going to convert Ftrtterri to 



A subject that I've always thought about, and tin sure 
many t>f you have, is how <i game is actually produced; 
from tlu-onu t plum nl ,in Idea to a glossy box sitting nt-aily 
mi a shop shelf. Wt- all have, iti ihe Kick of ihc minds, 
some idea of the pressures — ami ihe rewards — Involved 
in producing a finished product whether u t>e a- magazine, 
an assign .mem or a computer game, But do any ol tis really 
understand the fruMraiion and eventual pleasure* I hat 
gt>n intuit? 1 doubl il the vast majority of people really do 
know the Inwdown. One man who eeriainly has $tmv 
through the process many a lime Is Keith Prosser 



theAmsiud — andtihoughi I w*w 
rUug .i refl with ryratunt — I 
was working 10 hour* a day, 8 
days a week on It) 

As usual It; ih v were Eo 

no avail. Andrew hir me inn. suh- 
mission, but lotlLiri.net> I w,is 
aliiiwed lu finish Pmiiunrf Arsi. My 
mate, John, from Scotland Marled 
work an ihe Commodore version 
of FirfhrJ. [ wan lied hrin streak 
>i he in I .i nl! stuck in rhr 

i til Pyramne — It ma • 
enwh on the very last usk afier 




playt citing for hours — and no- 
one knew why? More sleepless 
niphts 1 Platan i tuers at Hewsnn 
aie required io sleep ai least oftCC 
ek — whelher they need II m 

not 

hihn had the backgrounds and 
our heron Itrrford on ihr scteen 
before t even parted, and bcgpi 
loak iih» smug for hts own good 
Once Pyrattfflf wu linaHy perfect 
3 had p i d -- 1 enough imie in catch i 
ijuiL-k breath heloTe beginning on 
r.t Mark (.oik!, if] my col- 
UhoraioE on f^ f mwie . is a BBC 

fir "gram met at hean and had to 
nr.ikafiei his stun on tvwvirc** 
there was nothing J or him to do on 
the BHC Id rather bean Amsjri 
than a Bceh-hashcr any day! But 
ss .i i .. h i ntf him put his feet up made 
no- -.s.iruleT if I h.uln I laken a 
wrong turn somewhere along, the 
hue 

JULY 

Hie method derided on for 
for Sieve to do ail 
pflie development and lor John 
,ni>! I to ii tttl came from 

him ii seemed quJiei|oodkteaai 
ihe time, mi we organised j system 
lor transferring unla which came 
from Sieve oo S pen mm microd- 
rivev inlu the BBC micro rnmi 
there il could eastty hetransf erred 
onto the C*4 and the Amstrad 

To to men a Speeirum projjtam 
on in the Anwudd w as noi 1ih» had 
\ l..n 4 it the code worked unmod- 
lEed The problems were ifuc ihe 
lulour worked in a dUferetM way 
and twice J* many bytes had in he 
ihe urren for ihe Ainsirad 
Gftphkt data also needed id be 
higher on ihe Am sir ad, and 
couplexi fffUl ihe biggfr ureen the 
apparent extra RAM {64k vrrMis 
4*k> KWfl disappeared, More byte* 
to pkit on the screen also meant it 
sv.i- more .hitnuh in keep Wlthffl 
the 20ms mne limit — which bas 



natlv 1 1 in E Oi hr dOW to avoid 
ii linker These jiroliJerm 
were lor the luluo ,is vet lost ! 
had in get the backgrounds up, and 
ihe b oil wufl 

A | rot i n wa s a h ea d of me f i on Id 
pick his braoi ivbktl I did 
ihimelessl) Ai l 
ously convert each ZSOinitnKtkui 
ll)IO the equjsatent hW2 I made 
1 progress and managed U 

nUth him up 

Sirvr is a srry itisuplined prciS- 
rammer and documents his prog- 
ra m ve i ">i t h made I hi i i^s 

eflstcr lew me I could usually tell 
whkh hi is o| the pro^i.uii were 
piing lo need major surgery r arid I 
'iat I needed to do. It mu 
itmosi plea vn u in ton sen fa 
biis — bul f was wi>rne*l thai I fun 
gel the sanely id 
l<!e on ihe S^HxtrumiiMiiglhe 
Afitntrad four loloui bm 

thai was whjt had been derided 
rid so I had lo Rel thai n^lil 

AUGUST 

1 ><m< EtiEiiiihrtoilL dol 

idem dying ihe m.uhine specilic 
lecllorif, ie, ihe key ^juuu^ 
streen haiidimg and sound Thai 
ru can I changing those parts, while 
leaving ihe nou-s|»ecifk ||imepldy 
ml nous iiiit hangc il t . >i exampJe 
Sieve Lised the attribute colnur 
tneinor> p o1 ttir SpeClfUttl liniulli- 
i detection- The Ijcsi voUllioil 
fi ii ihiv was io h*V* j " psrml. i .o ti i 
bute" hie awa ol memory in ihe 
Auwtrad. Ii iti cam aunifiei 748 
byt« used up. hm II . .uJdtri Ih- 
helped. 

There was another const rami, I 
mighi noi h n eUe to do 

everything I hat Sieve could .1 
ihe 2t>ms nme limti because of ihe 
extra paphns tiandling I had iu 
vs.m |o vtt how ii weni The origi- 
nal graphic data in the Speilrum 
.--uldni be used unmodified on 
the Anwtrad. Each byte had iu be 
expanded, wilh a bit of code lo 
expand them on tJetQUid I 
expanding is quicker at run iinir 
but IIM more spa^e. whik 
expanding on demand is slow but 
co in pa ct II wasallainosoiinol 
getting ihe balance nghi Uxa* 
Uoni and basu conKul proved 
fairly siraigjtiifufwafd. The fieoi 
originally fluttered actuss the 
screen, bul that was my fault. A 
smalt tix lu ihe routine pul lhat 
nghi 

Problems began lo sorljte laier 
Because Steve was developing ihe 
program whenever he made a 



uv 



_ WANNA BE A 
RAMMER HUH! 




x h.ui^c 1 we had in mauh ii and h 

En *% ed difficult In be sure thai we 
ad Covered ill the *. hanjfes so IE 
HM almost necessary iti rrsian 
everyhrne a new version came 
from Sieve If the cwte hadnt 
< ha rised i he dau had, oh deaf , this 
jsn'i tunany n 

V PTEMBI H 

Mtff I wo main parts to 
Ftrrl&tti — the mmi i up * muml 
SbOOttagai thing* hit and I he ifa4- 
i ri|c screen hit. So far John jnd I 
had u mi em rated on ihr running 
jKUiiul hit. eAcq>l (he alien sub 
routines, nvhulk OMMfO l ih*~ 
monstrrs that 5*lcvc hadn't 
finished yet. 1 began on 'house' — 
the 1ft toifcr with trading >iiniy 
nwn as Jidin was still mm veitiRf 
ihr last version 1 began 10 enjoy 
bfe aicain. a% luw tomeonr sufler 
hog more than I wiv! This house' 
hi I WJ4 okay I decided 

H mm m. why u hi Id hi 1 trade, 

Because I uuildn e puk anything 

up — why couldn't I? Reroute 

du re wis j hug %omewherr hlr * 

i. talk hi mc about lilr 

Before I could worry boo much 
about picking up objects yet 
jii"ihcs niu, version arrived from 
e John moaned and gibbered 
in ilie coma a* hi pmdrred ihe 
changes thai all thisbmught 

Then I had a system by which t 
amid add hi) source hies to the 
h t n i.T.1 i if my /.&rr dii*mMrr like a 
tew more ednv. insert wine 
routines fnt thr Amstrad and a way 
I went Unfcirtunalcly \i didn't 
inean thai ihe program would run, 
or amiluiitf like thai h jum iiwik 
the dtm key work out. 10 I ODUld 
Ci intent rate on finding nul what 
nrottg Wntkmg lair ih.u 
nitfhL (Againf) I wondered it 
I h j 1 1 laps I ton Id invent a system to 
icll me what was WIlMJf white I gol 
on wilh the donkey flPGfkl 

OCTOBER 

The Enial version «>f the code and 
da I a should base been arriving 
any day and ihen I urn Id nisi a I ihe 
final change^ Then it wii play 
testing i J me fur several d*ys before 
the public had I heir thancr to 
brave Ihr peril* of frrtltfrii All in 
all I enjoyed it , but 1 think i would 
havr enjoyed a holiday much 
morel Perhaps I can have one 
now, jusi a small one, eh * Andy? 
Oh, you want icme stulf on the 
*2*fcnexl?l*ce.fine • 

KEtTH PftOSSEK 

AMTI X Christmas Special 1 986 63 






Lonami 



X. 



J V, 









i{ 



\ 



J 



r^rmw m 



f -Jm* I rf , 



■■I 



W irnun hi rmnu 






- L 



J 



13 
IS 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
IS 
13 
13 
13 
13 

[p] Screen shots from 
tpj arcade version < home 
1=1 micro viTsii ms may differ. 

IS 

The ^ashmit follow up to 

jeArKung-Fu' 

is 

ig 

Spectrum 

H Commodore 64 

IS and 

H Amstrad versions 

coming soon. 
IS 

Our hero has finally 
13 mastered the secret 
ig martial art "CHIN'S 
ig SHAO-LIN" but is trapped 
j hy triad gangs. With kicks 
| and other secret piiwers, 
m escape from and travel 
' SHAH -UN'S road to 



IS 

irr* freedom! 




Published under licence by The Edge, 36/38 Souttiamptoii Street, b)ndriiiW( '2 

TW: (OH 8311801 TX: 882371*. 



GO FLYING 
WITH DURELL! 

WIN A RADIO 
CONTROLLED 
AEROPLANE 
AND TAKE TO 

THE sraesp^*.'. 

50 COPIES OF 
DEEP STRIKE 
FOR RUNNERS UP 






DURELL r#alfy ar© quits a dewBT 
bunch of chappies whan d come* 
to themes for games. With Turbo 
Espnt they had lota of sleek, fast 
movement along the ground but 
now they seem to have taken to 
the skies with Deep Strike where 
the (Mayer lb firmly sal ai the bus*- 
neea end of a b*- piano lighter oi 
the First World War Your task is to 
proted the bombers of rhe group 
aa they fly into enemy territory to 
shake up ttw wemy around 
forces What you have to do is to 
shoo! down the enemy fighters 
that at* eent out to bnng a prema- 
ture end to the bombing rmssion 
and therefore guard them against 
an untimely detonation Of their 
precious cargoes. 

Great 1 Wouldn't Mummy mm ion 
have been proud of me had I nsked 
life and l«mb to Shadow my com- 
rades from the shngs and arrows 
of outrageous enemy aeroplanes 

She could, however, feel just as 
proud o! me in my role at AMTIX' 
Towers Thereto many a lima that 
my quick thinking has saved a writ- 
ing mmion or two a kit of trouble 

Tony Clarke spends all his lime 
POKfrng around his computer try- 
ing out new ways Of extending an 
otherwise short life I help him by 
deflecting the odd missile that 
sometimes wings towards rum 
from the maaeed ranks of the pos- 
ing prima donnas of the ZZAP! 
squadron I mean, just "cos hie 
halts not ail spifcey, jhey ail i 



to ttwnk that he's from a different 
planet* 

And what Of Richard? Many + a 
the bma I've seen him c*awt forth 
from the door of the local Ludiot- 
Nan Indian Curryhouse on his 
hanja and knees, unable tfc stand 
under the weight of his bloated 
and severely distended aiomach 
I've got him safely heme each tfrme 
by borrowing a passing bath chair 
loops sorry Malcolm?, AAAAG 
GHHH 1 and wheebng him gently 
down the hill. 

And Malcolm may be a deb 
hand at pulling wfteetoa from the 
imaginary start nne of the office as 
he race* towards the tntfOf'S 
finishing post situated m the car 
park of the Pig and Ball Beanngs, 
but the maintenance of hta Editor** 
bathcrw i* severely lacking and 
time after time I've tightened up a 
few loose bolts that oouPdve 
the difference between 



owning a pristine eat of white 
lairrtfy w*r>g£ 

But I digress Vqu want to know 
what you have to do to win your 
own pair of radio controlled wings, 
don t you? Yes you do- Right* its 
quite srnp*e realty All you Rave to 
oo is spot the differences between 
the two pictures of an aerial opm- 
bat sequence, seen on this very 
page, then san d yo u r en try 
by flFimajl iq DEEP STRIKE, 
AMT1X! SQUADRON. PO Bo* 10, 
Ludlow, Shropshire. 9Y8 IDS to 
amve here by the ath of January. 



NAME 



ADDRESS 



i I I ■ 14 f « «1 P« t« »14* tf Pf »* 



■ ■ ■« ■ ■ ■■«■ 



■PMHIfl 



ii* a *«i1ilt*»»14tilti'i»«lll 



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AMTIX Christmas Special! 986 65 



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SECTION A 

GkEMUNGXAPti 

THE AMTlXf ACCOLADES! 

Watch om i, *rhr bbulnm four all 
ti^eiher <w< one tnntpkmoii up* 




<*A 



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planet v <** c " tr , A n ajMt 



!u"' 



MONTY ON THE RUN 

The f ci urn of the tow W mole 
in an all anion plath>rm name 
with wimc o( ibe m»M anKmojl 
muiic BkhariJ called it "A 
great jiame' with Glenn m> tag 
ll was '"A ([ante Jar platform 
Ireakv everywhere!" 






SSHW 



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label cart* nttr WjJLy^ 
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SECTION B 

FrvmOCEANflMAflSy 
PART ONE: 

LEGEND OF K AGE 
AiUMhrr ru-w ifcadc COT 
smn. Pit ynur wm and biltlc 
iirrngth aftainu aiiisihef XTntjfi 
olwjitcirnNiniJ^ surtii-.. 
in ich « i rtM kttl oft *i| your 
opponrrm wiih your hire 
hiiruh-— il>iiLJ ^ari find j n 
Ilia] IxNifc c,im ,i %|H-n ihji ujII 
them a in Vi-ninnnii on 
vnii w\\\ htvt HMke \<mr way 
iiji a Mc-my and into i grcai 
hou*c. Alt manner of njuiri 
lit foiiod hw — amj rhry aJl 

nSthvh^itahkK^' 
?o?fh Allv<iuw*»P lwl ^ t ' ir 

i i * 




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jrtlort t»T ><>» *■" ' r 4rmJ - 

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NOMAD AND RAMBO 

NOMAD 

An accolade way tmck in ihc 
«>niLv Uuidi 4 your tolntinul 
noma Si ihruufth a hidr*m4> 

! Mld/1-UlHlU 

lhr Great Meanie Ji ** «ldj 
unite hjm and the world 

pciHlktu fhmiik-ean'\ 

KAMSO 

1 Take I he IcdtfaA Stallone in itlli 
raid on an enemy tamp. Take 
mi pkk rrom ih* election w 
wmirn- ihcrmrv^ ^rlul 
.SLJtKMi Uw more fw*t> 
mrinies *Ull amic -iHci 
Rambo dthlcvfld a wndhy 
iCOre ol ?»* whin 

n Hid IT* still pwdfun 






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BATMAN AND DALEY 
THOMPSON* SUPER rest 

Barman — nnc «f the mou sfe< 
nihi.int piece* of Aji.vifTd 

A MUX! AiLtiljdc it rcaUv was 
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JW through ihc Jjhwnan <.| 
"'Jlmmf; vjr 

rible the tttimiibilr and 

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Compete in j inijj o( rmht 

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Deaf Subv r i , ren. Penile. 

' fen tmsy ticking Ikixc^ to fell y* m whal Ed like you la & ■ U*t mr ' 

SECTION A 

| I Ycn i-li-a^e Id love a copy o1 THE AMTIXt ACCOLADES free 
with my tubvcripiion 

OR 

SECTION B 

V« please Id love the following fret with my iiicHt ftp Unit . . 

PART ONE — TICK ONE ONLY 

I iKON AMIS GOLF 
1 i Vie AKKUNGFUII 

ropcuN 

I I LEGEND OF K AGE 

OR 

PA RT TWO * TICK ONE ONLY 

please Id love the loilutvinp (rrr wilh my mbttfljXlor) 

{ | BATMAN and SUPER TEST 
| I NOMAD .in.! RAMBO 

MYNAMF15 
ANDtUVEAT 



POSTCODE 

PLEASE DEB I T MY VISA/ACCESS ACCOUNT 

I wtah to pay by Vi sa/ Access (d«f*t» M 

Signature 



£*p*ry ppte 



Pleas*? Charge My Account No: 



1 1 



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£1 5.00, made payable la NFWSFII I !> PUBLICATIONS. 
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of your offer and enclose J t he que/potiat order for ES.7J for 
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68 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 




Ajmggugghtihh"'!. Phew^ I've been dying to do thai for & whoir 
week now. If* all rush around Ihe Towers, a* we f<nrj Ourselves with 
Christmas approaching and only a week toft to write Ihe magazine 
Never mind — the tip* won't suffer. In fact they are improving, with 
torn* greet maps of Trie £J0OJ_Onf s first four level*, a complete 
m4p of DRUID, and the layout to GUPEH RiDER. We also have the 
full solution to TRAP DQDR. along with some great POKE* that 
should keep you Happy over the whole of ihe yuletid* period, It 
you've got some original tips or POKES then why not scribble ihem 
down and send them in? Even if they do seem trivial to you. Ihey may 
be a life saver for someone alee, Don 1 ! target that £20 worth of 
software that i* up for grabs every month. Send your hints la m# at 
AMTIPS. 1/2 KING STREET LUDLOW SYB 1 AQ 



Lets kick off with some solutions 

HEAVY ON THE MAGIC 
(Gargoyle) 

How would you hke to finish 
mt* one In around 1 5 second*? 
We at the Tower* worked this 
one out — enter the following 
command* and you should 
takethegrinwretooneofthe 



PtCK UP GFUMQIRE. E. N. NW. 
DOOR "W0LT\ N, NW. 
INVOKE ASTAROL ASTARGT 
RLEFOOT W, DOOR ELE- 
VEN". N. 

Vou should now be of one of 
the exrta, if * easy when you 

know how. . * , 



DOOMDARK'S REVENGE 
(Beyond) 



of Wesi Lothian 
in Scotland has set in some 
t>p* for me latest of Th# Mid- 
night trilogy* h weH a* ■ full 
solution, First the clue*: 

Mot* m the Free can only be 
recoiled by Tanthel Morton 
doesni wander about, and 
stands io the south-east of the 
ctfy of immei. which is sur- 
rounded by the ley Wastes J it s 
just a war game that you want, 
oo for the leader g* each race — 
Inorthorn. Giormane Caran- 
gr^ne the Giant and so on, and 
they H recruit tribes 

The Pit of F iidrak and the gate 
of Taiangnum are the only enfr- 
ame* to the bfl of land which is 
surrounded by the Icy Waste*. 

To get the watchwords, 
Sharafh has to be dead. Luxor, 
Monxn Tarfthai and FMVW 
have to return to the gat© Of tfar 
anon — beer in mind that Rod h ■ 
ton and Tarttftel are the two fas- 



test movers. When Sareth cSae 
the program prints a message on 
the screen at night telling you so. 
rf you re iucky, Saretti rntght be 
kitted during battle with an inde- 
pendent character 

If this still doesn't help you, 
then maybe the full solution 
will. You should follow rt In 
c on j unction with the map we 
printed In the November Issue, 
If you haven't got one of these, 
then you'll jusl have to order 
one through our beck issues 
service, won't you . < . (tee 
heety 

DOOMDARK'S SOLUTION 

Take Luxor arid Rothrorn 
through the edge of the forest of 
Fenun . moving NE onto ihe plain 
of ThuJW, If approached by 
Kahudrag just recruit him with 
Rothrom. Meanwhile, with 
TantheT recruit (morthorn and 
Carorthand then move off NW 
going at imorthorn s pace. Cross 
the plains of Obftred, go though 
the plain* of Imorthak, then go 
Worth, between ihe two mam 
mountain ranges. Change 
character beat to Luxor, go NE 
and get Berormorn ihe fay then 

Sy North across the hills of 
isuk and through the forest of 
Carehom ■ Continue on the same 
course as Tartthefs mob Go 
Worth with Tanthel and com* 
pany. recnjrtsng Thortheon. 
perhaps Ganigrorn the Grant and 
an IceJordortwo 

Turn NE at thehMsof Glorthay 
and head through the forest of 
Farorn towards the gate of 
Taiangnum , Follow up along tile 
same route with Luxor end com- 
pany. Imgormad and Torelak the 
giant ^$w bkefy recruits — watch 
out for Srweth as she tends to 
follow Luxor around. Remember 
t o save the game at regular inter- 
vals, perhaps every two days. In 
case they have a fatal mishap 
such as Luxor joining the Choir 
Invisible , . . 



Once ail your Lords are at 
Talangrium enter the tunnel and 
goW.S.S.W S.S.W.W.W.W, 
WNWWW.N.NN.N.Once 
out of the tunnel recruit Anuireon 
the icekxd {or beat the Utile 
traitor in battle) then locate Mor- 
kin and recruit him with Tanthel 
Go to the palace which is three 
places east of iminni and enter 
the tunnel. From now on move at 
Luxor's pace: anyone who can't 
keep up should be dumped. 

Follow the lunnel until you 
come out at the pit of Fildrak 
which is m the NE corner of the 
map, From now on make your 
way back to Vaxervurn as quickly 
SS poss**e, watching out for 
Shareth all the time. When you 
gei back, rf Share! h isn't deed 
you can either simply take the 
victory you already have or send 
the rest of your recrutts after her. 
H you decide to track her down, 
then hide Luxor, Morkin, fiprth- 
ron and Tanthel in a tunnel some- 
where (1 hough not In the tunnel 
at the gate of Varenomj 
Good Luck, 

STRANGE LOOP PLUS 
(Virgin) 

Mike Roberts of Cheshire has 
sent us a quick tip on how to 
get into the "plus' part of the 



First stan the game as normal 
and press "L for load. Leave 
the original disk and a saved 
game will start to load. After a 
couple of seconds you'll find 
yourself in the mam transporter 
room. Ry info the transporter 
The screen will clear and the dtsk 
is accessed, When the error 
messages come up ,just press C 
for cancel . After five errors there 
will be a short pause and you are 
transported beck io days of Sor- 
cery. 



DAN DARE 

(Virgin)l 



4Sf-77/% T& 






Here's a quick tiplet that may 
not help you out but it in quite 
interesting. Thanks go to 
i Hayes of London, 



if you tali down a shaft as new 
the right-hand side of the s cre en 
as possabie. you should find thai 
yo^ are suspended some way 
down a purple screen. Now, 
instead of walking, jump right 
onto a new set of screen* 






3HR" 







AMTIX Ch ri st mas Speci at 1 986 69 






>aivut.ir: 



Am 









\ 



i 




KEY* 



wt{^*L£&w***t*fmM*mTJrrt£ *«. 










*°W c i4 



w 



Q 



W_« 




70 AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 








4 




"*w| w l*e*H 




V 
(Ocean) 

juat iytog around thecftice were 
some hffttB foe V It s a p it y that I 
dont know who sent rhem. but 
thank* anyway, whoeve* you 



¥h*?n in circuit end*- 

Chang" I and 6 

Cbaage I end 5 

jL- Cfcang* 3, 4 and 6 

*-T Chatigo t and 4 

r i Cbaegf* 2 and 6 

£ Chang* 2 and 3 



£ 

a 

71 






Pause /Quit 

tad Dust For aula 

CLflLffc Circuit Mode <!or uo locking dsxiT 

Tour Location 

Set Saab 

Got Back to dorsal toff switch) 

Locatm* Lab 

1 - Lor, a tag lajor Urgete. 

3 - Uf^%msi treasalt in mm *ltb Itmiar 

3 - Locate* trans** t out 

i 

5 



THRUST 

(Firebird) 

Vet another unknown person - 
ig* with * POKE for Thrust ki 
which a humble spaceship 
becomes endowed with super 
powers of the invulnerability 
hmd. 

10 MEMORY 12000:BOROER 

MODE 1 

20 LOAD '^thmt1 M 

30WINDOW 

^U^ICIOiWINOOW 

40 lot -0 

50 FOR n = £9*00 TO &9e46 

60 READ a&a - V ALf ' '4 " + «$» 

70 lot ■ lot + a 

GO NEXT n 

$0 IF lot 6235 THEN PRINT 

ERROR IN DATA END 
100 CALL §9*00 
110 DATA 

2*.3a p bd,22.OO.0f£l + a# 
120 DATA 
99,22 , 38, bd >3« ,e 3,2 1.1a 



130 DATA 

9<?,32, 1 9,bd .22.1 a, bd,c3 

140 DATA 

00,36,23,00,91,22,36^ 

ISO DATA 

cd 1 37,bd l 3e.!7.32.3O.O0 

160 DATA 

3e>c3 fc 2l,36,6e fc 32 fc 30,00 

170 DATA 

22, 31 ,00,cd,00,4f ,c3 ,00 

180 DATA 

3c.3a.rn.33.Sft.7l ^LSe 

190 DATA 04,22 fc 3f a 43 p c3,00 t 70 

While we are on (he subject of 
Thrust r we had a quick tiplet 
from Colin Fuidge of 
FIREBIRD with a linger -twist- 
ing way of cheating yoursell 
onto the next level. Just hit 
(just ?!| function keys 1, 2 and 
3 S p*US *ne up arrow key. press 
the + hey, the DEL hey, and 
then with your nose, ear or any 
other extremity press ESC. 
You should now be on the ne*1 
level — acid in the Lotus posi- 
tion too, more than likely . . . 



'i * j ^ — - • 




72 AM Tl X Christ mas Spec ial 1 986 



SPIKY HAROLD 
(Firebird) 

Now I wonder where this on* 
came from — yet another 
unsung hero! Please, plneee 
put your names and addressee 
on die tips. This POKE should 
stop all Hedgehog mutilations 
After typing it in. Just type RUN. 
insert your SPIKY tape, press 
play and the game should load 
w+th infinite fives. 

10 MEMORY 12000; BORDER 

0:MODE 1 

20 LOAD ■'Spikyl" 

30 WINDOW 

0,14,28,10,10: WINDOW 

#2,14,26 t t3J3 

40 tot -0 



&0 FOR n - AbeOO TO 4be3c 

«0RfADa$:a- VALI 41 *" - aS) 

70 tot - tot + a 

00 NEXT n 

90 IF tot 6360 THEN PRINT 

"ERROR IN DATA." END 

1OOCALL4beO0 

110 DATA 

2a 4 3a l bd^.3d,be,21 1 ae 

120 DATA 

99.22.38.bd,3e.c3.21 .1a 

130 DATA 

b#,32 fc 0e.bc.22,0f,b<:.c3 

140 DATA 

00.e3.2a.34l.be.22.38.bd 

150 DATA 

cd.37.bd i 3e + r7.32.c1 p 7d 

160 DATA 

Se.cS, 2 1,36 be, 32.30,00 

170 DATA 

22.31 .00.c3.00.ei a af<32 

180 DATA 33,9c ,c3.fS.&8 




04 



TRAP 
DOOR 



(Piranha) 



»'s the hill solution fol- 
lowed by a POKE ff theft not 
enough, First the PGKEy bit 
from Cy Booker from Tun- 
bridoe Walls, Kant, ttgtva* you 
Infi ntta time to complete any of 
the tasks and Is for the tope 
version. To use ft* jus I type ft 
In. type R UN end press ptey on 
the Datac order 

100 REM TRAP DOOR infinite 

time 

1 20 MEMORY A3fff 

130 total -0 

140 FOR addr - *9c00 TO 

&9c33 

150 READ A$ 

160 POKE addr,VALrA" +aS) 

170 total total -VALf '&"»*$) 

100 NEXT addr 

190 READ checksum 

200 If 1otaJ< > check. sum 



THEN PRINT CHRSWERRGR 

IN DATA!" :ST0P 

210 LOAD ' trapdoor" .44000 

220 CALL A9c00 

230' 

240 DATA 

21 .00,40, 1 1 .00.02.dS.c 1 .ad ,b0, 

21 .50.02,1 1,80.9c 

250 DATA 

Oe J 9 1 ed.M.3e,G9;J2 r 50 1 02.32, 

» I fc.cd,00,02.3a 

260 DATA 

21 J2.S0.02 s cd ,80.9c ^f,32.c7. 

0b h^^Oc. 32,33 

270 DATA 0c,c3 ,69,02 

260 DATA 4456 




OUT NOW! 







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^l&OTOWrT^AWtRITAltfWS * fTS WOT TWf R^ *LEA*€ 0«*R IT 

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74 AMHX Christmas Special 1 986 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 75 



!.* 














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4 Commodore 64/128 £9.95 

r '** - Spectrum 48/128 £8.95 
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I 



MELBOURHE HOUSE =H 

WrtwiwHouafftafes^ fDBWiprwie (01)9433911 *to 935«S«LR50ftre |Ql|g43»M 






iiii»s^ >AM J.1R& 



Now for th* full solution p Ml 
I n b y K McC ■ ulay Of mi fl xed 
abode The task] may not 
coma up In the order that thay 
are printed here , $o just go the 
relatrva section. 



CAN OF WORMS 

Fimt get the can — rt is the object 
m The centre on the ground floor 
where the vat is. Now go to the 
trapdoor , Open it and capture all 



th© worrns. putting each in turn 
mto the can H the Irttte yellow 
thing eats any of them then just 
open the trap door again to get 
some more. When you have four 
worms m the can take the can to 
the dumb waiter and send the 
can to ")M UPSTAIRS" 

EYE BALL CRUSH 

Rat push the vat {large sti") to 
the right hand side of the trap 
door, then push rt up as far as u 



FRIED EGGS 

Get the bulfcet and drop ft beside 
the trap door Take the frying pan 
to the room with the stove and 
leave it there. Open ihe trap door 
and let out the bird Close the 
trap door and place she bullet on 
it. Whan the bird flies over the 
trapdoor, open it and the bird 
should get butttlfl the posterior. 
He wtN men fly right. Follow him, 
pick up the pan as you go then 
stand underneath him whan ha 
stops The bird should now lay 
an egg in the pan. Use the same 
procedure several time untif you 
get four eggs. If you lose the bul- 
let down the trapdoor, than use 
a different object but make aura 
it is of no importance at a later 
date in case you lose rt too Put 
the pan on the stove. When the 
eggs come to the simmer leave 
ihem lor about twenty seconds 
and then sand them upstairs 




wti) go . Tnen go back* ptcfe, up the 
botfe and put A next to the stirt 
Go beck to the flower pot (bas- 
ket) and pour the seeds out Take 
the seeds to the courtyard wsth 
the three plant pots. Empty out 
the seed packet and put a seed 
m each pot Go back and get the 
basket, then go back the ptants 
which should now be growing 
When the eyeballs have grown 
and fallen off the plant put them 
m the basket Go to the room 
wffh Stairs leading up (were the 
Dumb waiter lever ts) and go up 
and left so that you are above the 
ttW. Empty the basket into the 
sW and then go back down to 
the still and push it down until it 
is by the trap door Place the bot- 
tle under the still's lap then open 
the trapdoor so that the crusher 
gets out. He win land m the strtl 
and make eyeball crush, Put the 
bottle on the dumb waiter and 
and send rt upstairs 



BOILED SLIMES 

Push the cauldron to the room 
with the stove and push it against 
the stove. Get the pteni pot. go 
down to the cellar, and coltact 
tour slimes putting each one into 
the pot. Up the slimes into the 
cauldron from the upper tier. 
(above the stove). Push the caul- 
dron as tar down as rt wilt go and 
then open the trap and let out the 
fire breathing meany. Use your- 
serf as a lure to make rt breathe 
r>n th© cau Idron about f ou r times , 
then send the cauldron upstairs 

THE CLEAN UP 

Not real ly a task but you can gain 
extra points by dumping every- 
thing down the trapdoor. 




TOADRUNNER 

(Ariolasoft) 

Just a quick poke for infinite 
lives from Cy Booker yet 
again. Use the normal method 
for entering the program. 

100 REM TOAD RUNNER 



POKES 

no- 

120 MEMORY 4999 
130 LOAD M tod"' REM USE 
FILENAME "!aa2 M for tape 
140 POKE A 1469,0: POKE 

tmaj 

150 CALL 5000 



TAU cm 
(CRL) 

Yet more from Cy Hooker with 
the classic POK Eater FauCefi. 
plus a couple of extra*, Just 
follow the instruction* at the 
top of the page aa normal, If 
you are using a disk, Insert M 
and type RUN. 

100 REM TAU CET1 POKES 

120 MODE IrINK O,Q:B0RDER 

0; INK 1,20 

130 OPEN OUT "D": MEMORY 

1529 

140 LOAD "IPAfiTrUOAD 

*PAfiT2" 



100* 

iaCPOKE&47bd,*c9 
170 POKE $5M6,*1* REM 
INFINITE FUEL 
160 POKE &4!ca0; REM1NFI 
NITE MISSILES 
190 POKE i4ff2 ( 0: REM INFI- 
NITE FLARES 

200 POKE 45025,0: REM INFI- 
NITE AMMO 

810 POKE & 5 264, A IB: REM 
RESERVE SHIELD ALWAYS 
220 POKE £64c5,&cfr REM NO 
RAO OVERDOSE 
230 POKE &35a1,Ac3L REM 
DONT HAVE TO BE IN MAIN 

REACTOR 

240 . 

250 CALL 4886b 



CAULDRON II 
(Palace) 

This one Is for the disk version 
and shouki give you infinite 
lives- Type in the program, 
save rt on a separate disk. 
Reset the machine, load the 
POKE program. Insert the 
Cauldron it disc and then type 
RUN, Remember not to fait 
down to the dungeons of the 
castle or you'll never get out 
again and will have to reload 
the program. Thanks once 
again to Cy Booker 

100 REM CAULDRON II pokes 

110' 

120 MEMORY 41 Off 

130 LOAD "DISC" 

140foraddr 41700TO41T07 

150 READ AS: POKE 

addrVALf *4"+aSr 

1 80 next addr 

170 POKE 435*3,417 

1 BO CALL 45000 

190' 

200 DATA 

3e.d2.32.f4.c1.c3p00.c0 



Hot a had lot of POKEs this 
i ss ue . Ms great to see full sotu- 
tiona to game* appearing so 

quickry (are (hay getting too 
easy?) Now. who shall I pic k aa 
a winner of this month's 
Software prtie? Er . r . umm 
It's about lima that someone 
with a solution rather than a 
POKE won the the £20 of 
software, so kit's have a big 
hand for Mr Kirk wood, for Ma 
full solution to Do&mdarh *s 
Ft*v&nge Your software will 
be winging It's way to you soon 



Hope you all have a good 
Christmas, and apend the time 
constructively, getting to grips 
all the new game* 

for the Festive Saa- 
;* aura you keep In 
touch wfrth me and pass on 
your tip's V hint* in the New 
Vear. * . , Meanwhile, I'm off 
for a good long rest attar all the 
hard work that skive driver, 

OldCrumbry.hnsmademedo 
the** ta*1 few weeks! 



A-MTIX Christmas Special 1 996 77 



WWSk ®W£ 




<W 



A 




' motel , n a w®' 




CRVTTfcf^ TO K>LL TO BftEBCH 

SlTERS»RD ^♦•^ 8"?^?* 



^TERS TO Kill TBS^tflCH 

**b*Y • " mm** 

TROLL • «** 

BlTERBlRP ••• ^ 

DR0&ON ««>*»^ ^ r v 




The 



• 



Sue FIKSTFQUK. LEVELS 




ITTERS TOKlLt- TOSRtfiCH 



cRtTfegs tokiu- ' 1 %£2£ UCH 

BITER BlRP ••*» ^ 



£BN£^S^£Ll>PU&i.i 



I 



1 



I 



WIN A BMX BIKE 



30 copies of SPACE HARRIER 
for runners up 

. jT MS i 






The eve* -so-impf essi ve Mr Wilcox 
I who's a very hg cheese al Elite ) 
il oveqoyed at the moment wilh 
the success or his company's 
games and is looking forward to 
Christmas when one of Etta's 
latest and greatest games. Space 
H,imer t win ba on the shelves of a 
Shop near you 

As the game will be arriving just 
In lime for the festivities, Uncle 
Steve has domed hts red coat, 
faise whiskers and Du niop wellies . 
He may look rather silly as he 
climbs into his Lotus Esprit, but 
hell appear very seasonal 'cos 
he's offering two BMX bikes as top 
pnzes in this Yulet nde competition . 

Being the season of goodwill to 
man. r er...personkind. Uncle Sieve 
does realise that lots of people 
can't fit onto one BMX bike (of 
even in one Lotus Esprit for thai 
matter 4 ) so thirty runners up will all 
be able to thnlt to the speed and 
daring of driving around a TV 
screen, blowing up the aliens and 
saving the entire population of the 
univerM. 

Funny old world you find your- 
self \n. ploying Space Ham*. I 
mean, you go to all I he trouble of 
g a ship and f piling il full of go- 
juice, all paid for out of your own 
pocket and no-one realty seems lo 
m,nd the tact that you may be 
blown into your constituent atoms 
and then there'll be no-one left to 
feed your cart. Ah welt, such is life 

I m sorry, I'm feeling a little 
untoved at the moment It's an the 
people tm* at the Towers yog see 
I know they're really nic* people 
(sometimes) but they're aPways so 
busy and never seem to have any 
time to do the n ice tittle things that 
tell me Im reeiiy appreciated. l p m 
actually quite afraid that they'll 
forget to send me a Christmas 
card ttos year and when my Auntie 
Mabel comas around on Boxing 
day and asks me embarrassing 
question* tike. 'Have you got a 
girlfriend yei ? p ' and ■ Where are all 
your CHnstmas cards?" ft have 
to He ii ke 1 did Fast year and pretend 
thai I had a whole maiisacfc at work 
but left them in the broom cup- 
board 

80 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 




So what you must do for thts 
competition is to create your very 
own Christ mas card for me and t he 
rest of the AMTLX 1 minions. You 
can use pens, crayons, paints Or 
fells for the outside and on ihe 
inside of the card you must put a 
Chrismassy-hke verse for ihe 



whole AMTlXi team, 

Best cwd and verse wMl receive 
the BMX bike as a just missed 
Christmas' present from (oity 
Steve at Elite but hell try to send 
1 1 round to your house rather than 
1ill hts wellses lull of soot irying to 
get rl down your chimney. 



Send your entries to 
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 
AMTIX! Towers 
PO Box f 

Ludlow 

Shropshire 

SY81DB 

lo arrive here by the 8th January, 



50 



c op/e 



/ 



-tent&E.of 




New out from Elite is the wonder- 
U hi Pack, a blend ol four ol the 
Inert compute? games afl brought 
together on one cassette It's got 
A/fwoft Gornm&mk)< 8omt Jack 
pkm fran k Bfuno's Boxing and to 
celebrate such a prestigious 
rataaaa EM* have deckled to run 
1 comp with us. Up for grabs are 
len first pn/es of Personal stereos 
each with a Hi Pack and twenty 
rvnner up prizes ot Hrtpacks 
Good eft? 

But you re going to have to work 
for your prize and since these are 
tudn rfoce prizes you are in fact 



Oto have to help us, At I he 
s a bit of problem at the 
Towers and rt's name is Sumpter, 
more commonly known as fl 
Retardo the ramps sub rninion. 
The poor boy has got a bri upset 
recently over the continual leasing 
and baiting he's had to put up with 
over his dress fnon^sense Sump- 
ter doe&n'l dress subtle?, bright 
pinky tlam/ trousers, coals that 
look like SeilafieJd surplus anti rad 
jackets, socks that never match 
except in thwr odour. These are 
Sumpter qualities and such a nb- 
btng tie's taken from those Towers 



lads that he' scrawled into the cup- 
board tor a good sulk, 

Weil what we need ts something 
to coaxe him out of his catatonic 
kike state end this is where you 
come in, What we want you to do 
is to make an audio tape up that 
will get him out ot the cupboard. 
You can use any tactic you want, 
tempt him with kits of lovely prom - 
ises, threaten him with the most 
loathsome fate you can imagine, 
or just otfor to buy him a pint of ok) 
flatulence bitter Anything you 
wont, jtnl keep your entries under 
3 minutes long 



So all you've got to do rs get fci 
Retardo out of the cupboard and 
you coufcf And yourself jftnng down 
the high street with personal 
stereo wrth brill new Hit Pack Just 
send your cassettes to 



GET SUMPTER OUT. 
AMTlXl Towers, 
POBOX 10. LUDLOW. 
Shropshire SY8 tOB 

Entries must be m by January 8, 
AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 81 



ULTIMATE ACTION 
IN THE THIRD DIMENSION! 




State of the art 3D, 16 colour graphics 

Unique programmable robots 

For your AMSTRAD CPC - £8.95 (tape) £ 1 4.95 (disc) 

Versions for other micros coming soon , . . 





Intelligence 
in the, office 




While changing the EPROM 
Dcfcy's heed I wondered H 
wpuJd eve* be a time when i might 
get something remotely Nkt ml eUi- 
Qence from ruin (tether than the 
nortnej dnval he spurts out about 
tech rnaftef 5] Ones again my luck 
wh m, as tiiet very same mommg 
SIGMA sen me the* liM Mce 
rtbOCftVvwk^rttedAM5Tft4^ 

The book contai ns programs 
«nd discusswis on all Jhose 
aspects of Artificial Intelligente 
thai are ot most use to The home 
user. These included bow a com- 
puter can tie used to write prose 
■nd verse* though some of the 
onamp*« used in the book yielded 
very strange results, 

Hw language iranewiOn is 
c ov e red faaly weiwffli 9 program 
dial converts a subset of Ofniwi 
mto Cngnh. Gteaaic projects on 
natural language translation are 
cfescuB$etf , with the best betng on 
the Russian/English converter 
wh«ch traraiafed ihe phreae "Out 
&f «ht. out of mM" into "Invis*- 
bta idwt". 7nec*a**k2 "mouaaanrJ 
rnaza M program ta also tested, this 
enactes tne computer to una its 



ANTHONY CLARKE 



i back again! What do you think of last month i 
and ooe we hope to keep up for eternity. 



item* that we have been taken 
over by Siren Software this month 
a* we review the full rang* of 
software and hardware to coma 
from them m the last few weeks 
Our tech teacher and education 
expert David Paul, takes a took at 
Or Logo for the very young and 



creataea 



a special Logo 

M WTK , \ Si 



quMe a taw of you are starting to 
leave us Prestei message* . Soma 
of them are not too nice, but we 
thrive on cntiosm » keep those 
letter* coming. If you ha van r got a 
modem yourself than try asking at 



look? We think ITi a 



your local computer cfc*. 

one is bound to have one. Our 

MBX number a 10&845B&1. 



Making a guest apperwrca in 

AMTM Simon Q oo tfw to r^ves us 
the info on some of the beat com- 
pilar* in the PON mrtetpfcace 



* The Screwdnver Awards system. 
AMTECH row has screwdrivers la 

L grve away — not to readers but to 
products reviewed New and 
innovative hardware or software 

•lhai wthar break* new grouraJ or 
improves on an existing concept 

a is particularly likely to collect a 
screwdriver . . but if we just like 

# something a lot. well hand Out an 
award. 



^None of your chaapo lead aMoy 

■ acfewdnvers hare — AMTiCH 

only awards the beat: go*d H silver 

a and bronze. 



The Go4der> Screwdriver is given 
to a product that we reckon is the 
best thing ever produced m its 
held Three screwdrivers appear 
with the review ... * — 



The Stiver Screwdriver turns up 
m the guise of a pair of screwdriv- 
ers and indicates that the product 
is very good, but perhaps not tant- 
bry innovative . . . 

The Brorue Screwdriver is 
awarded tor competence m an 
existing fieW- A neat implementa* 
tion of a well established idea 
earns a slngte screwdnver . 









I way outot any mazethei you con- 
i struct. 

f One of the moat useful subjects 
r descnbed-nlhe book is character 
1 recognition. This one gats around 
the p rob l em s faced by computer 
controlled robots thai must know 
what they are looking at. even it 
the object or design is displaced 
or rotated by any degree. 

To me one of the moat interest' 
ing subjects covered In the book m 
that of computer reasoning of the 
karrt- 
Hsh are nutritious 



Food is nutritious 

which are facta euppked fry you to 

the computer If you were now to 

ask 

lafishefood? 

the program would petum the ans- 

war "YES" if on the other hand it 

had no Information on the words 

food or fish, than it woukJ answer 

^Idon^tknov 

There i* one section for Those of 
you who wish to use a term of 
Artificial Intelligence bn gamee. 
Chess, wargames, etc. and uses 
the game* of O and X'* and HEX 




(otherwise known as 
lets"), to illustrate its 



For those who want to use Artifi- 
cial inidfcganca w any form, then 
this book is a good grounding and 
should lead you gently into the 
aub(actbatora you embark on to 
tender Ih+rtgs Each program is vary 
wel explained with each module 
having a section to itself If you are 
into the whole sufefetf of Artificial 
Intelligence than Ca.flS k» a small 
price to pay for a fascinating 
Insight mto the sublet 



i 



OOE TO S«?W 
W SM^4 S ttfllWH., ***™_* 



TERRJFYIMCLY BEHtKJ TH£ FOREST 
Tf« WEEPY SKELETON KILLS. THE 
SKULL KILLS R DEMON. A »UCL 
HVJUKTS THE SKELETON, n LfrMu.tr 
FRtCMTEHS THE FOREST, A CHOST 
DEVOURS ft CORPSE. R CREEPY U#W>1RE 

GHOSTLY SKULL BLEEPS THE CREEPY 
SKULL. THE FIENDISHLY "™5PY 

JSSSS^'ifiS F0C TEBWIEIES ft 
CROTESOtt FOREST, ft CREEPS SKULL 
OECftPtTHTES TMROUCM THE DEnO«TTHE 

ocnoH^iTES rlthouch r skeleton 1 * 



^SStSJSSt 



cftf*** 



•• *• 6ARD 



"**••*#***; 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 S3 



-' ; ' :: t' :;: I :;:; ' ::;:1:;:: ' L 




I :' " I \ ! > : l : i 
j ■ ■ ■ ■«--■-]■-.-- I - ■ - - J - ■ - ■ -i -■ - ■ 4 ■ - - 1 ■ 



in:::iii:;ii;llii!i Ji 






COMPILERS GO PRO 



In the beginning, thera was Fortran. Pascal arrived a 
while later. Now our tame compiler -writer, SIMON 
GOOD WIN, examines two packages that bring "grown 
up' languages to the PCW range. 



Way back in tri« gtftier tra of CFV 
M, London's Proapero Software 
wrote a F&scarf compiler Pascals 
a trendy programming language 
Mmedaftor French genius find 
invented by a Swtss professor, 
Nidaus Wirth, In ism The Ian* 
guajje was designed far teaching ; 
maf forces the programmer to 
b® disciplined and systematic. »0 
thetprognfM are easy to road, 
understand, and compile 

Pro Pascal was written in flas- 
cat ri compiled rtsetf The Interna* 
tional Standards Organisation 
tested it and pronounced rt Gass 
A h — it passad all the tests and 
ahouid produce bug-free Amstnid 
code from any program wrttteo 
with another validated compter 
The ISO teefcsare lough, and very 
few micro compters pass them aC 
so Pro Pascannstantty became a 
ho< property, 



HO 1KEM THERE WAS 
F0RTHAK 



Pro Pascal was used to wnte ^0 
Fortran — a compter for the first 
"rear computer language, Fortrmn 
(short tor POfimula TRANsJator) 
was invented in the mid 1950s 
and standardised 20 years ago. 
Fortran is old - fashioned and rsi her 
anarchic m style, but it is stiti e 
popular Language for scientific and 
eng ine e rin g worfc. espedaty on 
terge computers 

Pro Fortran conforms to the 
1366 American Standard, known 
as Fortran 66 or fwrth a fewembek 
lishrrwils) Ftxtran 4. Few people 
write new software m Fortran 
these days, bui those that do lend 
to use ftrfran 77, an improved 
version of Che language which 
r 1 uulmtv s compiler cannot 
handle. Rro Fbrtran seems 
intended to compile older J ofF-the- 
5heH applications; Pases/ or C 
would be belter languages for new 
projects. 



qrt ability 



Proapam also produces versions 
of Ptu Pascal and fto Fortran for 
lite IBM PC and similar computers, 
50 you can move programs com- 
piled on the Amatrad 10 the PC or 
it? clones qute painlessly. The 
ongmat price o* each compiler was 
£300. but Amstrad CP/M version s 
are available from Software Toot- 
forE65, 



ACKAGING 



In exchange for seventeen Dukes 
you get a cardboard box contain- 
ing an AS nng-bound manual, one 
three men diafc (with files on both 
sides) and a couple of tuts of foam 
to stop things rattling about, 

The manuals are nveU-wfttten 
and dearly reproduced from a 
daisywheaf prim-out Divider 
cards spin the manuals into four 



psrowifl provide technical support 
and notice of upgrades. 

The card ateo explains thai 
P ro spa ro *makas no representa- 
tion whatsoever thai the software 
will be suitable for any specific 
purpose ' — even If the person set- 
ting it made such a promise — and 
" accepts no responsibility for any 
mathematical or technical limita- 
tions of the software 1 . 

Whatever Praapuro may say, 
you're entitled to a refund under 
the Sale of Goods Act rt you break 
I the seat and discover that the pro- 
duct to not of "merchantable quel* 
J£ — say, the disk won't work. 
The dracon^an license ienro K com- 
mon m software publishing, are 
probably meant to dissuade large 
seal* lawsuits and copyright theft. 
if m doubt, ptay Prosparo at their 
own game, and see a lawyerf 




llfe*^ 



sections. The Fortran guide starts 
with a concrse sumrrwy of the larv 
guage. whereas the Pascal man- 
ual begins with a brisk tutorial for 
those fnmBar wtth other progr anv 
rtttfig languages. Part two consists 
of a comprehensive p indexed 
reference guide to the relevant 

The third section contains 

instructions 4 on using the 

bge. AppenrJCTs summarise 

rjammar ' of the language and 

explain the meaning of the error- 



HE LICENCE 



You am deemed to agree to a set 

of licensing terms, on a separate 
card, if you bre* a seal on me 
disk. In shofl. you promise not to 
copy the compiler for other 
people . or modify rt. fn return Pros- 



HE FORTRAN 



Fortran 13 an early Language, and a 
sample one — foke a naive attempt 
at a Basic compiler, with primitive 
but polentiairy powerful data 
handling facilities reminiscent of 
machine-code — epurvatencing 
and common blocks. Programs 
am made up of fixed formal, col- 
umnar files: the first file specified 
can marge others by name from 
dWt 

Fortran Is often used for 
mathematical applications; its 
simplicity and test parameter pas- 
s<ng (always by reference) makes 
It an efficient language for scien- 
tific programming. Pro Fortran 
allows arrthrnetlc wfch 1, 1 6 and 32 
h>i signed integers (unusual m 
micro compilers) There are no 
unsigned integers — a pity 



Ptv Fortran can also handle 7 
and 1 8 digit floating pom numbers 
(m the IEEE standard format), and 
? digit complex numbers. Arrays 
can nve up to three dimensions 

In Fortran, string handling is 
practically non -existent — you can 
reed and write sequences of 
characters m memory, but all man- 
ipuiations have to be performed 
character by character No good 
for Adventure games 1 

File handling fcs powerful; you 
can use fixed or random- tengtn 
formatted or unformatted, wtth 
random access to fixed- length 
records Disk errors can be trap- 
ped, and fields are helpfuHy pad- 
ded with spaces when read from 
the keyboard. Useful commands 
let you read and wnte bytes to 
memory or to the Z80 port a 



HE PASCAL 



The core of Pro Pascal If 1 stan- 
dard Rascaf compiler wtth aJ 1 the 
control and data- structuring 
faculties you might expect. Prra- 
rams are reed from standard ASCI J 
text files There's no timrj on the 
length of identifiers, but Unas can 
be no more man 255 character* 
long. 

You can build up a large prog- 
ram from several small files, using 
the INCLUDE racdiFy One input fie 
can request the inclusion of 
others, so you can build different 
versions or a program by using a 
drfferent initial list 

Vulcan readers will be plessed 
to hear thai INCLUDE can be 
netted (included wttNn rtsetf) four 
times over. 

Datatypes exceed even the 
usual generous Pascat variety, 
Vou can use 8, 16, or powerful 32 
bit signed integers* 7 or 16 digit 
floating point numbers, sets with 
up to 4038 elements, random- 
access files , variant records, pou- 
ters, booteans, subranges and 
enumerated types with up to 256 
elements There are arso stnngs, 
which RT discuss In e mornent 

If you wani portable code you 
can tell the compiler to reject 
everything that is not part of the 
ISO standard. Otherwise — if 
you're gang to stick wfth Pro Pas 
cat— you can use a stack of pow- 
erful and neatfy-designed exten- 
sions which are not part of the far- 
mal language. 



ELLS AND WHISTLES 



In standard Pascal text must be 
held in fiaed- sized arrays of 
characters, padded wtth spaces 
Pro Pascal aHowa Sastc-Ufce 
dynamic' stnngs where the length 
can vary. The maximum length 
must be set when the vanabta is 
declared, so that the compiler can 
a Hoc-ale space for the vartabte 
Stnngs of up to 255 characters ara 
allowed, as m Basic. New conv 






84 AMTIX Christmas Speciall 986 




"DHlMlTilMM 




manda wilt search ond stnrig for 
another, append, insert or deflate 
character*, and extract 'skoeT. 

Other bonus' Tacitrties let you 
read and wnte to the CP'M com- 
mand line, Z80 ports or individual 
Bytes of memory Functions let 
^ou And the adorees where any 
•ranabJe is stored, and the amount 
dt space used, you can a bo check 
on the amount of spare memory 
available as a program runs 

Random access fiJes are 
allowed Files can be FtENAMEd, 
APPEMDed or EflASEd from 
within a program; you can also 
search the directory erf a drsk to 
check the validity of fae names 
typed irk by the user . 

Mtscalaneous facilities include 
a function to Chech how much 
memory is tree* a randomvnumber 
generator a procedure 10 check 
for a keypress, and a MOVE com- 
mand wt»ch assign* date without 
performing Pascal's usual 
datatype checking 

Beat of an, there's full error trap- 
ping from within a program. You 
calthe buit^ procedure OWN- 
ERR with your own error trapping 
procedure as a parameter I 
error 

procedure (a< 

delate of the error \l you have 
allowed lor that error in your code, 
cor rectiv e action can be taken *tv& 
the program may continue with a 
GOTO, Otherwise the norma* error 
message appears 

aji these e*tre facilities cure the 
matt flew of Pascal— rts lack of 
iow level ' leaturea/Tbeee are trtt le 
needed in erJucaiion, but they're 
vita* lor systems programming 
Today C & the standard language 
Tor thrs, but extended Pro Pascal 
is probably a better tod lor the job - 



subsequentty occurs, your 
jdure is called end passed tuH 




Many parts of the Prospero pac- 
kages are common to Pm Fortran 
and Pro Pascal This may appeal 
to peopin who want to write 
soft wa re in a mixture of Pascal and 

F0rfj&n u gr who JUSt Want tQ UM 
twin languages with the minimum 
of fuss. Each package came with 
a aet of aimple demonstration 
p r o gra ms , and three utilities, a 
inker, a library manager and an 
trtstattation program, 

Routines can be compiled one 
by one and then merged into a 
angle program by a uiafty caied a 
linker" The linker extracts system 
routines from a library, so you 
don't have to write you own code 
tor standard jobs Irke reading the 
keyboard and fiie-handfcing, 

Similarly the linker can combine 
Fortran and Pascal routine* into 
we program You can even tell the 
knkar to produce programs that 
win run m ROM. with separata 
code and data areas. There is no 
a pp are n t support for PCw 
graphics although the required 
macfwie-oode routines could be 
buiii mio me library if written wtth 
Microsoft s Macfo-60 assembler 

The 'library manager' lets you 



combine group* of routines 
one file, or break such files up into 
the* component parts . Trus is use- 
ful if youVe working on a targe pro* 
tact. 



NSTALUTWN 



Both compilers come with a con- 
figuration utility which Ma you 
change me options and drives 
used to hoW system and tempor 
ary tiles I used thrs to get the entire 
system to run from drive M on a 
51 3k home-eitpanded computer 
Alternative^ I oouW have moved 
the system onto a larger 'real 4 
drive, or adjusted the compiler 
optH^na to trade speed and brevity 
lor Improved diagnostic informa- 
tion and err or -checking. 

The code generated by the 
compter* seemed quite efficient, 
although notes good {understand 
ably) as some non-standard com- 
pilers The total akze of program 
and data must not exceed 64k, 
which could be a problem if you ' re 
converting software from another 
machine. Other CP/M compiler* 
impose the same restriction — at 
Met Pro Pascal and Fortran prog- 
rams are aeowvo to ioao one 
another, passing up to 80 bytea o* 



perhaps the name o# temporary 
Wes holding further data In fact 
this is how the F*o$pero compters 
work. 

The compilers worked slowfy, 
even when run from drive M, It took 
them both about three Quarters of 
a minute to compile and Ink a hatf - 
papa program. Top speed, on 
larger files , seemed on ty about 
10D 2O0 lines per minute. Unless 
you're a very systematic, we§* 
organised programmef , you'll rind 
this indolence nutating, even 
though you don't have to link 
routines till you're ready to try 
them out. 




ftp Pascal and Pro Fortran are 
well-made, pr of aa atan al program- 
ming tOOte. Tta Of%*fflppOtfTfl' 

menfrs are the tWItetton to 64k 
memory — siNy on flie PCW 
machines — the lack of graphics, 
and the slow rate of compUai ton 

Fte Fortran has no hval. 
whereas there are a number ot 
cheaper alternatives to Pro Pascal 
on the Amstrad, Waotls compiler 
i* cheaper and produces very tost, 
compact code, but tt is not ISO 
standard and lacks the Nnder and 
extensions of Pro Pascal. Digital 
naaaaichs Pascal MT ta 
yntnendiy and reputedly bug-rid- 
den. Turbo Paacai compiles very 
qufeCkfy. but it produces verbose 
code The Turbo diatact of Raseaf 
is powerful but non-standard 

In my view Pro Pascals the beat 
choice for systems programmers 
and those developing complex 
software for a range of computers 




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AMTIX Christ mas Spec i al 1 986 85 




QMAtL. as the name suggests, is 
a new mail - merge program from 
Proteus For those of you who do 
not know what maH -marge means 
shall try to explain It is a way Of 
sending a form letter to many 
people with a program changing 
the name , address, and other per- 
tinent poinis as rt goes along 

QMAtL is compatible with the 
normal Locoscnpt package that 
comea with the PCW62&6/512. 
and so letters may be created, as 
documents, and QMAtL wM pro- 
duce the data- base from which the 
names or addresses are read. The 
data base can be formed by any 
thing from |ust formal names and 
addresses with their approbate 
salutations to full details about a 



Once the data- base has been 
set up then QMAtL can be used to 
pnm out the already created letter 
with the data that is needed. 
Instead of all the data on a correct 
record being used m the text, it is 
possible to Be selective over what 
data you have in the taxi by the 
use of attributes. An attribute, in 
this case, is on identification code 
which you can add to the end of a 
record- The program can then be 
instructed to use only those 
records with the appropnate attri- 
buted . 

Tha example given in the text is 
Of an electrical retailer who has all 
his customers names and addres- 
ses on a data-base- The attnbutes 
can be used to show what each 
customer has purchased, for 
instance a radio Could have the 
attribute R 9 for stereo O for dis- 
hwasher and so on. Then if you 
only what to send a letter to 
everyone who has boughl a radio 
you could simply tell the program 
to extract only the records that 
contain the R attribute Each 
record Can have several attributes 
and so a search could be marie for 
all those records relating to people 
who may neve bought a radto 
a cfeh washer. 



The data-base pan of the prog- 
ram Allows you to edit merge and 
create files quite easily; each sec- 
tion having a skill level associated 
with rt There are three skill levels 
in all An N next to the heading 
means that this particular pert of 
the QMAtL package eou Id be used 
by anyone who has been learning 
about QMAtL, an L signifies that 
the user should have a working 
knowledge of Locoscnpt before 
attempting to use the function 
described, and finally an O means 
that you also need a working 
knowledge of CP.IvV Although 
these descriptions of how much 
background knowledge you need 
to start using the package cor- 
rectly are correct, the actual 
amount of reading up beforehand 
is minimal as you Only need to 
kripw about those functions that 
you intend to use. 

One of the most useful things 
about QMAIL hs that you are not 
just stuck to producing form let- 
ters. There is also the facility to 
produce labels. This system is 
simitar to the way we produce 
labels for subscribers. Most Label 
programs allow you to define the 
sae of a Label the number of labels 
across the paper, the distance 
between each label and so on 
Instead you musl defme aJi of this 
inside a document, created by 
Locoscnpr. This means, m effect, 
thai you are using a full screen 
editor instead of just pumping 
numbers into the program, makinp/v 
QMAiL much easier to use^^^g J 





I found no way of using the logical 
operators AMD. Oft or NOT; so 
that you could set the data-base 
to only print out letters to people 
who, for instance, may have 
bought a radio and a stereo but 
not a dishwasher. This would 
mean that someone who had 
bought ail three would not have a 
letter, 



QMAiL package comes m the 
now usual business like, black nog 
binder which contains both the 
disk and manual The manual itseii 
funs to 35 pages which, as well as 
the instructions, also includes a 
full, though somewhat sparse, 
tutorial Overall QMAiL is a very 
competent piece of software that 
should cover the need of most 
small businesses. The inclusion of 
a data-base, although limned, is 
quite a nice idea andean be used 
by iteelf for several jobs. The use 
of menus and movement with ihe 
arrow keys does get nd of prob- 
lems with other mail -merge prog- 
rams that use a son of command 
language and so alleviates Ihe 
user from learning the system as 
just a look at the manual explains 
everything QMAtL represents a 
worth investment to any small 
busmess at only £29,95 



The problem with most printers is 
thai they use A4 &i*e sheets which 
are much too narrow to print out 
dala-tables, spread sheet totals 
and the like. Even if you Can get 
hold of a piece of software that can 
print text sideways down the 
paper ihen you are still m trouble 
because 1 he wtdth of The paper will 
usually only allow up to 56 lines 
"down" it once it has been 
related. Rotate from Proteus has 
got around both p r ob l e ms by not 
only allowing sideways printing 
but also enabling you to print up to 
96 Characters "down"' (across) 
the paper, 

Rotate is designed to be nothing 
more than this as it does not allow 
you to Create or edit files. Si mply to 
punt I hern The program will print 
out any standard ASC 1 1 tile created 
by programs such as Wordstar. 
LocpscfipL Taswottf, and some ot 
The less known programs such as 
Daybook. Nominal Ledger, and 
Scratchpad Pluti Rotate will allow 
you to use a variety oi line spec- 
ings, character widths, character 
spacing* and fonts, botn continu- 
ous and single sheel paper, and 
also allow you to pnni in the normal 
lashionasweii as sideways So the 
program could be well employed 
iu^,! printing out letters or forms in 
different fonts 

Rotate comes on a single 3 inch 
d*sk which should be immediately 
backed -up onto another disk so 
Thai the original will not become 
damaged or possible overwritten 
by a le*1 file. The program is menu 
driven , gnfing you Sample Choices 
which will lead you into separate 
sub menus so that an options can 
be specified belore printing The 
basic list of options wiN ask you if 
you wish to print across the page 
or rotate down ihe page, using 
Single or double heigh! characters, 
one ot the four fonts, set the 
number of lines down the page 
(which is afletled by the font 
used), the line/ character spacing 
and of course, if you are useig 
single or continuous stationary it 
is also possible from the man 
menu to go back to CP^ whin 



means that you do not have to 
reset the machine to get bach to 
another system mat you may also 
be using such as Wordstar. 

it you are happy with the set- 
tings m they are on booting the 
program Ihen pust hitting 4 on the 
mmn menu will put you mto the 
secondary print options which will 
ask for the name of the file that you 
wtsh to print and which dnve rt is 
on, There it no (unction available 
tor you to pnnt out a number of 
files one after the other m a tied 
together form, known as group 
tiles This can be a problem with 
some programs that save data as 
a senes of several files, but it is ot 
course possible to fjet around this 
by attaching the ties together with 
PIP before pnntmg, 

Changing fonts will give you four 
options the first is the Standard 
Rotate foni which *s the most com- 
pact and allows you to have up to 
96 characters "down" (across) 
ihe paper, all ihe other fonts are at 
toast double the height of this font 
and wiB only allow 56 chmctff 
rows 

Changing the line apaeir 
■lows you to choose the ste u 
gap bel weei . one line and the ne*t , 
a value of one will give a space Ihe 
size oi one character, which is 
relative to the sue ot the foni cur- 
rently m use. That means rl the CUT' 
rent torn is double height then the 
line spacing wilt be of the same 
size as tne printed tent and be dou- 
ble the normal without changing 
the size of the gap 

Character spacing woffca 
much the same way as hue spec ■ 
MtQi but determines Ihe distance 
b et w ee n each letter. Unfcke line 
spacing 1 ts not dependent upon 
the character style or su:e 

Rotate does euittly what it is 
meant to do although I think 
people who need IN* sort Of oper 
ation on a regular basis win buy a 
much larger 13 inch prrfler and 
reduce time and money m Ihe ionq 
run For th jse with just a little do ii 
should be very useful, even it it 
does weigh m al a rather hefty 
124 95 



86 AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 






I 






TrrnTTTTrrrmT 



m 



tV/n \n l ft'/'l l||iT 
HnTTllllifffi^ 


f • J m m iff 



Ew wanted to prodycf mow 

Stunning 3D effects in BWeor Sfar- 
W With Mode/ Universe from 
Amor you can do it. to some 
degree The program com« as a 
graphic designer and demo prog- 
ram together with, on the flip side, 
triat hardy old game known as 
Garecftntsner which was released 
as a full price game some time ago 
by Artisoft 

Modei Unrverse can only be 
described as an introduction to the 
ideas of 3D modelling as the 
routines are only accessible from 
ihe main program, totally negating 
their claim tfiet ft couW be of use 
to the serious user. Even it it wes 
possible to use the program from 
BASIC or machine code their 
would be very little pdm m using it 
as me whole thing is much too 
slow. Then again rf you just want 
to use it for a bn of fun then l can 
foresee people being engrossed 
fdrhOtira, 

The main program allows you to 
create, rotate, scale and transform 
any wireframe design that you 
care to produce in fuW 3D An 



object m the wrong place. The 
positron option will allow you to 
move rt In along any avis to the 
required place 

Objects can be expanded or 
reduced by any amount as long as 
none of the co-or donates grow big- 
ger than pJus or minus 2SQ. 

The circle option should have 
been more truthfully called the 
polygon option as you may create 
a shape with any number of sides 
from 3 to 30. If drawing the poly- 
gon would result m more than 255 
lines or vertices then the program 
would not draw it and report with 
an error message. 

If an objeci such as a cube 
needs to be drown ihen M is possi- 
ble to do th* by creating only one 
side and letting the extend option 
do the rest. All lines already drawn 
would be extended along the Z 
axis as far as you spec Hy and cor - 
nets may or may not be connected 
depending on your answer to this 
question. 

The onfy problem with the 
extend option is thai it will extend 
all the lines currently on the 




unfortunate problem with the 
program is that there is no hidden 
lie removal opi«oa making some 
of I he more complicated designs 
somewhat confusing when 
rotated The design menu allows 
you to place h nes on the screen In 
two dimensions and also be able 
to create iines that go both in and 
out of the screen. ie ihe Z axis, but 
these still show up as Fines on the 
X, Y axis thai makes up your 
screen To get around the prob- 
lems of orientation when creating 
3D objects you can change the 
viewpoint to the left . Hght, top* or 
bottom sides. Sometime you may 
find that you have designed ,n * 



screen, whtch at times will not be 
desirable. To get around this there 
is the EXT FLAG option which will 
Onry extend the lines drawn after it 
is evoked. When selected you are 
given a further menu with ihree 
options. The first RESET will 
extend the whole object but not 
pn the edges. The UPDATE 
option will only extend those hnes 
and vertices that are created from 
now on and the last option SAME 
will altow you to get out of the 
option without charing the 
options- Any of the functions can 
be cancelled before another func- 
tion takes place by using the 
CRTL-C keys This method of 




erasing errors is Onty one pty SO 
you must remember to remove any 
mistake before going onto Ihe next 
option or drawing the next line 

it you go into me display mode 
than you can rotate the object m 
any way you please The default 
setting tot rotation is with the view- 
point set at x*0, y«0\ I— 336 P 
which puts the object somewhere 
in front of you. This viewpoint can 
be changed to any X> Y, and Z 
value There are three possible 
ways of rotating the object 
depending on the current ongm 
state. A static origin is one that 
does not change position and is 
fixed so thai rotation takes place 
about the viewpoint. With a 
dynamic origin the rotation takes 
place around the origin and so 
your design can be seen to rotate 
in Ironl of you rather than around 
you. If you were to translate the 
object from its current position to 
another you may find that Ihe 
object stiH swings in and Out Of 
virw although it is still rotating 
about the origin. 

Pressing V puts you back la the 



viewpoint origin which is the las 
lest method whereby the object 
rotates about the viewpoint From 
ihe display menu you can print out 
the screen to any of a number of 
Epson compatible pnniets such as 
ihe DMP2000/3000. A screen can 
also be saved to tape or disk tor 
future loading into your own prog- 
ram The BASIC cpuon win save 
all the points in an X and V form 
onto tape or disk . Using the file you 
can use a plotter to get an image 
of what was on screen *r the time, 

The Parameters option win attow 
you to change both the angle or 
rotation to any one of nine values 
from one to ninety degrees. 

The distance that the object can 
be translated, where me object is 
moved without rt bemg rotated, 
can be any value from 1 to SO 

Overall Mode* Unrverse is some- 
thing of a let down the inability to 
use the routines from your own 
program Is a definite bad patch 
and the way that you can on iy use 
one colour m any design also gives 
the impression that vwy little 
thought went into the program. 



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mhji m lation 

11 



AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 87 





DAVID PAUL creates " AMTIX", a special Logo procedure for children 



One of the appeals of Logo to 
those involved in education is that 
the turtle graphics aspect of Logo 
can be introduced to very you>o 
children to help them understand 
spactf relationships end m the 
same time help thorn become 
f ar™ haf w it h the world of the mic 
recompute* 

A pf obk*m is that the traditional 
Owerty keyboard often forms « 
barrier to young children, the tune 
spent searching lor the right keys 
makes programming a tedious 
business for toddlers, hit the 
wrong key a tew times and parent* 
start to lose patience whilst finding 
the correct key and pressing it 
triumphantly doesn't always work 
either — as over enthusiastic key 
pressing results m a long kme of 
letters when the key auto repeats. 
Interesting things happen too 
when the child keeps a finger on 
me delete key — tike dad pulling 
out the plug or the culprit being 
sent \o bed early. 

To hetp solve the keyboard bar- 
rier, which can also be a problem 
i d those who are physicety hand- 
icapped, specially designed and 
simplified computer keyboarts 
have been developed and these 
are often used m schools working 
with Logo By using these special 
keyboards children of Want 
school age and younger can use 
Logo commands to control both 
the motor* of the floor turtle and 
the on-screen turtle sprite. 

But you do not need to go to the 
expense of buying a special 
keyboard rf you would like to help 
youngsters work with Logo, You 
can simply use Logo to create an 

Easy Logo" version which will 
accept one-key commands, and 
no great programming skW la 




ft wM help *f you hw some idea 
of Logo to begin with. "Child's 
Ray [ AM tix ' . June 1 906) outlines 
some of the ideas behind Logo 
and "Meat me Turt*e■ , (AMTtSt. 
October 19*6) tista and explains 
some of the more important Turtle 
graphic commands and editing 
procedures, M you are really desp- 
erate, you can try ihe Or Logo sec- 
tion of your Am*trad manual, but 
this is loo bnet to be really helpful 

The short procedure makes use 
g* two Logo prtmJttvea (com- 
mends) MAKE and RC (Reedchar) . 

The MAKE command aJtowt the 
to assign a value to a word or 



list, rl must be foMowed by two 
imputs, the first being the name 
preceded by a set a* quotes, of the 
variable, and the second the value 
which you decide to give ft. 

First of course, as Amstred Or 
Logo rum with CP/M you must 
load your version of CP/M and 
Logo — CP/M 2 2 and Logo 2 tor 
the C PC 664 and for those who 
haw added a disk drive to their 
CPC 464. CP/M Rus and Logo 3 
fcr the CPC 61 ?6 and PCWrange, 
Using the MAKE command - 

From the opening Logo screen 
type TS fTextScreen} followed by 
RETURN 10 g*ve you a full text 
screen tor wntmg on, then type the 
foWowing:- 

MAKE NAME Fred 

This assigns the value Fred to 
the variable NAME, now typing m - 

PR NAME 

Should result m the word Fred 
appearing on the screen, 

The : lets Dr Logo to took for the 
value assigned to the variable. 



M Plus you can type ERALL to 
erase ai procedures and variables 
from your Logo workspace, this 
primitive is not available with Dr 
Logo running on 64 K machines — 
but our test MAME wilt not have 
used much memory! 

Our one-kffy Logo version is 
called AMTIX. the command 
WRAP has been included to keep 
the turtle on screen - stops 
youngsters trying to peer into the 
back of your monitor too, Start off 
by typing TS for a full text screen 
then type In the procedure - 



to amtix 



make :z re 



The Logo operation RC (flead- 
char) wl read a single character 
from the keyboard when a key is 
pressed and pass it on as its out- 
put — tt does not pnnt it out on 
screen L 

Now ell we have to do ts to use 
MAKE and RC together to write a 
procedure m which I he vaiu^ot the 
variables can be used by a single 
key press to create a 'one-key 
Logo"- 

n you are using Logo 3 with CP/ 



Wat 1**1 wiq 

if .2 ft b bkW 
H n V* r rt 30 
H ll V* I It 30 

it t rt p pm 

If 3 V* d pd 
ttiz'A h ht 

Ifil'AC CS 

I e pa 



amtix 
end 



88 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 9B6 



The message "AMTIX DEFINED" 
should appear on screen, now 
up the procedure by typing 
and the lo*low#*g key presses will 



t the turtle win move ten steps tor 
ward drawing a line on screen. 

b the turtle will move ten steps 
back drawing a line on screen 



rieft 



r the turtle turns 30 
without changing position 



I the turtle turns 30 degrees left 
without changing position. 

p the turtle will lift its pen up - no 
draw mode. 

4 the turtle will lower its pan - 
drawing mode, 

h the turtle will hide and disappear 



a the turtle will show itself on 



c clears the screen, 

• pan erase - the turtle writ erase 
any lines n travels along, 

Amtix one Key commands have 
deliberately been kepi as close as 
possible to HiM Logo commands - 
f for fd. p for pd. etc. so that AmtiK 
can be used as an Production to 
Logo before a child starts school 

It Tn is is not an important consid- 
eration it is possible to make single 
key — pressure* crest* shapes to 
help with shapa recognition and to 
design simple games and problem 
solving exercises. 

To create a square include the 



i q 



4 fd SOrt 90 



To create a triangle, include the 
bne- 



7 t fl 



3 fd SOrt 120 



By using "Amttx Logo" 
toddlers can produce pictures and 
designs on screen and enter the 
fascinating rrwcrowortd, but be 
warned, you might have to fight to 
gttyourmioroDBdd 










MAKE OUT Wi?H^Htc^pl57K2CJ 



1X2 OUTFI 



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togo, J* .dorian^ 



cfiaumotSi 

frll - 



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tWEATSHlim 



*tilcNng or^^H 
■iz*ft. 

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«mhki t-shmts/s weATSHnrrs^APS/wnotfts offh 

All quo tad price a includ* VAT t post and pocking (UK only), Corrtkwi- 
W Europe wJ Owfiwi, ptoai a add £2 axtra p*f Htm ortfrwL 

PtaMtfacfc ■pprnprW* expimI imam m m»tc*m *i Not* CAPITALS p*«*^ 

□ «Mm Mnd ma AMTIX! T-ahlrt(s) at £4,50 much 

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3 PfMM Mftd m+. . . . AMTIX! Cap(a| at £3.95 uch 
IPlMMMAdm* AftTTl)UBInd*r(m)«t£4,90Mcli 

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r ufllCvQB n ,....- 1 . .jiijlj *M.m li ■ ii ■■■ ■■ 

lendOttC. . . made pay able la AMTTDC 
k Cheques or postal or etere only ptofttt. 

COMPITTI AWini OFFB^ TO Mil It, UBUWf.SHROPSWfliSTSlOB 



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Postcode 



..-..,.. rl.i.1. 



Si nd vow mm in 1 1 • r 1 1 1 >*. (ip: 
OISK BOX OFFER, 
AMT1X!, POK»\ 10. Lud- 
low, Shropshire. SYH I UK. 



PLEASE DEBIT MY VISA/ACCESS ACCOUNT 

I wish to pay by Viu/Acceu |d*l«1« as apphcabkt) 



Expiry Dfrte 






Pi*dse Charge irty Account Mo 


Mill 




1 



Heme 



C art HoWe^t Address 



MODULATING WITH 



Weil There we were, bored oul of 
tmy little minds and wholly fed up 
because we couldn't w.uch Trap 
Door on the tafhr Oh ftow 1 wish a* 
could pick up ITV on our humble 
Amstrad monitors Then with ■ 
sudden movement and woosh of 
spray, (well It was raining}, no less 
ihar> two parcels appeared upon 
my desk, if I can't watch Trap Door 
then 1 win just have to do tome 

work 

So m a few moments f had 
opened the package* and found 
to my surprise a couple of handy 
modulators, both cut out to turn 
your straddles into a cheap, but 
very good Quality, television. Bui 
wg haven't got an aerial, cried 
Richard, qurvenng with e*crte- 



Dfctrontc* version had only four 
controls, On-off coupled with the 
volume control, a tightness con- 

ttol cotouf eoftfre*. end ftftafly a 

tuning knob. The reason for the 
omission of Ihe contrast is that on 
green monitors one is provided, 
and with the colour monitor the 
brightness on the side of the case 
acts mora like a contrast control 

The whole unit fits underneath 
the monitor very tidify and does not 
strain the monitor lead as the con- 
nector is at the front of the umi 
The Screens, modulator on the 
other hand, has all its controls at 
the back as weti as the input which 
means that you must either hew 
the unit in front of tha m ac hi ne or 
stretch your monitor wire, The 




ment over the prospect of watch- 
ing Berk in action. Before long we 
had something resembling an 
aerial made from oW coat hangers, 
a lew shelf supports and the secret 
ingredient, yes you guessed it. 
some of Saffron 3 t&3 kniekar 
elastic, guaranteed to kill at ten 
paces. 

The two pieces of iifesavmg" 
adgstry were the Dk 1 Tronlca TV 
ftecertfler and t he Screens Scnaon- 
brjsion, both of which wW turn your 
Amstrad colour of Green monitor 
into a television, Both of them gave 
very clear pictures, in fad tha pk 
l ure is of the same standard as any 
colour portable TV, The 



modulator aJso has a proper bul' 
ton channel selector unifee the 
tuning knob on the Ok' Tronic* 

Overall nether is a clear winner as 
both have flaws, with the Screens 
modulator it is the poor quality of 
the green screen picture and the 
way the connector and control 
ere all at the beck of the machine 
With the Dfctrontea rTs the uee of 
a rotary tuner instead of the more 
normal push button which in 
todays market work out at Just 
about t he same pnee as the rot my 
tuner Both, on the other hand, 
give very clean colour pictures that 
everyone should be happy with. 




90 AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 




Mil 



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prrrr 

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Mnnnnrr 



SPOTLIGHT 





I 



Alter a falsa start from Manches- 
ter, their car broke down, the Siren 
Software team Anally made fl to 
AMT1X 1 Toward We warn all very 
hungry by now $o oft the the Pig 
and Entrails we went for a liquid 
kunch (the orange juice ts good,). 

Tota*y refreshed they started 
talking about the great deal of 
goodies that they had brought 
down for us to see Frrst out of the 
Dag was * new form of bacfc up 
utility known as the AM-RAM. 
&mon Cobb, the MO of S*r#n. 
e*p*amed to me thai he had a great 
deal of ROM software that he 
needed to have access to at regu- 
lar mtervaJs but because of the 
nature of most ROM software you 
tend to find that they are physically 
incompatible, if not electrically, 
and even if you could put them all 
on at the same time them you 
would be drawing too much power 
from the machine and probabry 
htow a fuse Siren than picked up 
on the idea that if you could have 
a 10k memory board on the bach 
of your machine, and the ability to 
aave and load the ROM software 
from dish, than you would have no 
problems. 

This is just what the AM-RAM 
can do. It allows you Co save any 
of the ROMS, from to 254, onto 
disk and than load them Into the 
AM -RAM to be used as normal. 
You can also eoVt the ROM" to 
do anything you wish, such as 
changing the sign on massage . or. 
with a tottte mora know how. add 
new commands. 

Something tike that must be 
expensive I thought, hut Siren 
Software as usual have brought it 
out for the mtaerty sum of £39.95. 

If that wasn't enough. Simon's 
magic case also held another 
goodie from the Siren stable Tins 
time tt was the smallest disk drive 
n the world* being smaller m vol- 
ume than even the Sinclair nvc- 
rodnve. n takes standard 3 inch 
daks but gives them a capacity of 
one megabyte, that's about 720k 
per skSe when formatted The 
drives themselves are imported 
from Japan and then converted by 
Siren so that they are compatible 
with the Amstrad The disk, when 
inserted in the drive, sticks out for 
about half its length but is still very 
stable. Although the drive casing 
onty looks about an inch shorter 
than a normal Amfeyta 



drive this is due to the power sup- 
ply which is encased withm the 
drive. The idea of having a one 
megabyte dnva using 3 men disk 
m e a ns that this standard of desk is 
more attract rve than its 1 78k coun- 
terpart produced by Amstrad due 
to their price of around four 
pounds. The price for Th*s marvel 
of technology only £239. but it will 
not be avai labia until the New Year, 
Neat out of the mag*c bnetcase 
came something that would have 
no hesitation at ail in buying. A five 
and one quarter inch one mega- 
byte drive, it is a little less expen- 
sive than the 3 inch version and 



also scores highly by using 
redeems disks thai cost onty 
about 50p upwards to buy Instead 
of sitting on the top of the machine 
it has to sil beside it due To its 
dimensions like the 3 inch drive rt 
is totally AMSDOS compatible and 
m the future may have the option 
of becomjmg Dm* A The system 
comes with the AM-RAM as this is 
n ee ded to Interlace the machine 
with AMSDOS The version mat 
we had was not cased but as usual 
■t will come in tha standard black 
case Nke ail the AM-BYTE drives 
At £239 it may be a little expensive 
for some people but after a whrfa 
the price of the disks that it uses 
will make it pay for itself m a very 
short period of time, rt you are to 
order one from Siren before 
Christmas then you can buy it at a 
rJscouni price of £209, 



Joyce owners era not lei down 
either as Siren has produced an 
interface which sits where the sec- 
ond dnve would normally be, and 
allows you to use many of the five 
and one quarter drtves that are 
currently on the market. At the 
moment we don't have a dnve that 
we could Imk it up to but we hope 
that a Ml review of it can be done 
next month. 

Asking about plans for the 
future, bimon commented that 
they would dike to do a monitor to 
TV convenor lor the Amstrad. but 
f eel mat thoee avai labte may tak e 
the markat before they coukJ get 
anything produced Something 
that is definrtety on the cards for 
the future is an amplifier with 
speakers which should retail 
around the £15 mark 







'.■.+. \ '.-,+_*.'.< 







w 



1? 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 91 



I 



SOUNDING THE SIREN 



Without a doubt SIREN software 
have produced gome of the best 
dtsfc utilities ever seen on the 
Amstrad range of computer DtS- 
COVERY PLUS i* eel to console 
dele this position yet again. This 
new TAPE to D*SK utility wti bac- 
kup just about af i software to tape 
aimpfy by not trying lo be all things 
to ao men. Inmd you are 
suppfcad with a suite of programs 
aH on one ofek , wKh each one 
DvAg tseor meoe 10 cope wtin one 

c*aJ toaders available at the Current 
time. 

The first, and probebty the motf 
useful, of the copters n SLOCK 
TRANS Tins program enables you 
to backup those program that 
u*e the SPEEDIOCX system of 
protection. Thee* are Quite easy 
to distinguish from others as they 
print the message "Loading: 
PLEASE WATT* *t the bottom of 
the screen On loading the copier 
you ire greeted with a scrolling 
message informing you that the 



ottw ; 



hergrooram* turn, 

OPTION 2 give you a full 
dialogue of the disk in drive A. 
Full information about the files on 
ihe disk is grven, including where 
rt is stored, the file type, thai is 
BASIC Machine code and ao on, 
You are even given the option to 
erase or rename any of the prog- 

OPTION 3 simply catalogues 
the disk, it is just i ike typing CAT 
from BASIC. Files can also be 
erased or renamed from this 
option. 

OPTION 4 will put you m CP>M, 
as long a? a CP/M disk is in the 
drive at the time 

Now comes the reason for the 
utility OPTION 1 will transfer tape 
programs to dak, but unlike moil 
of the normal versions of this prog- 
ram,, this one will, to some extent, 
modify BASIC programs whan 
machine code routines have been 
relocated or the name used b , 
program to load the Mcode is not 
AMSOOS compatible , that is if the 



N*therAMTIXf nor StREN condone piracy of any kind TherMsonmat 



confined to making backup copies ol ongmai software for personal use 
onty 



program has been instated, after 
which you can enter the name that 
you wish the program to be called 
on the disk Hitting Enter will now 
start the tape recorder and the 
program to be backed up should 
bed as normal 

instead of running when the load 
has finished, SPtmANS saves 
most of the memory to disk except 
for the screen, it m lot this reason 
that you must have at least 52k on 
a disk or you may run out of space 
After taring, the program jusi 
saved, should run, If you now wish 
to test to see if the game has saved 
property you must rasa* the 
machine and load the program 
us™ the filename you gave it in 
the first part of the operation The 
or#y time programs fattod to trans- 
ier was wmen mere was a Joaoinn 
fault, and not any problem with 
SPLTRANS The real beauty of the 
program is that no rmxfrficBhons 
or special utilities are needed in 
order to run the backed up piece 
of software. 

A version of the original QfS 
COVERY is also supplied on the 
dWk* Users of the original Dtsco v - 
ary wfl notice that there is no 
SPBEDLQCK option on this ver- 
sion, SPL TRANS now takes over 
that function. Instead this program 
transfers e9 those programs with 
normal AMSTRAD loaders, that rs 
those that load in blocks. 

As the transfer program takes a 
while to explain, I win go over the 

92 AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 



file name is longer than 8 charac- 
ters, The only problems could 
stem from programs in whpch the 
loader ravens lo tape ogam, Hits 
has already been thought off m a 
later program. 

Of covrae there wiU be times 
when automatic mode cannot 
work, one of which is when the 
BASIC file is more than 1 6k long. 

In manual mode you can rename 
Woe and relocate machine code 
but the program makes no attempt 
to alter any BASIC program. DtS- 
COVERY has orty been included 
on the disk as a teat resort as the 



programs TO and TU1 are made 

to replace n, but n is siiH a useful 
f when ail etse just won't work 

TO will enable you to transfer 
normal and heedsrless programs 
to drsk The only problem that 
arises from the use of this program 
Is that the fifes cannot run inde- 
pendently of the main package 
Instead once the program has 
been loaded it is given a number 
is saved with this number as 
its filename once it has finished 
loading To load the program again 
you must select the load option in 
the TD menu and Ihen give it the 
number ol the file that you wish to 
load. You are now laced with 
deciding which type of load you 
want to use. Tbis i&duti to different 
types of protection being used on 
haaderless and normal programs 
Most will use type 1 but if this 
doesn't work then try type 2. You 
may also find that programs Wee 
a while to load, but at least you 
don't have to wait as long as with 
the tape waiORft. 

TOl attows you to coma prog- 
ram just by hitting the CTRL key. 
Although this doesn't work with 
every program it should get 
around the programs that revert 
back to tape after the loader prog- 
ram starts running. Instead you 
can watt until the program nas 
loaded and hit the CTRL key This 
option seemed to work vwy well 
on most programs we tned, the 
only wag © that programs saved 
on a CPG4&4 will only work pn a 
CPC464, the some going for the 
CPC6128, though this Is a small 
safeguard agamst piracy 

DISCOVERY PLUS represents 
the most complete suite of prog- 
ram copiers and, although not 
Quit* as good as having a push 
button type copier such as the 
MOLT! FACE TWO. it is quite a lot 
cheaper at £14.89 (disk only} and 
should do for all your needs, DIS- 
COVERS PLUS gets a well earned 
SILVER SCREWDRIVER 








j 



INCREASIIG 
MEMORY 

It has been known for so time that 
it is possible to have up to 44 
tracks on a 3 inch disk and to 
knomM Me ''Mp.'j'iTy bm no sun 
has even tried to utilise it 
now 1 Siren Software tM^ once 
AQpn come up with the goods and 
produced a disk enhancement 
package that give* you up to 208k 
of st orage space on each side of a 
disk, an increase ol 30k over a nor- 
mal data format disk. 

The program comes only on 
disk and includes seven programs 
that compliment the use of large 
formal disks 

t, and most important, is the 
disk formatter, know as SUPER- 
FORM, When selected you are 
Sven the Option of reading the 
Hp file on that particular option 
This means that there rs no manual 
to skkti over while using the prog- 
ram, but SIREN having thought of 
thta problem have included a 
■ ' Print Manual" option in the main 
menu which dumps all the be*p 
files to the printer in a form that 
can be assembled into a manual. 
SUPERFQRM will format dis* 
any of the standard formats. 
DATA, IBM etc, as well as two new 
formal? known as SUP202 And 
SUP208 The first wtfltormatedtsfc 
to have 202k free space and also 
saves 4 short programs to alow 
you to utilise this space Ihe first 
two m* SUPER* and SUPERB 
These configure the system to 
work with 202k format disks on 
drives A and B respectively Run- 
ning the appropnate program and 
cataloguing the tits* will present 
you with a diftk containing a heal- 
Ihy200k andjwo more programs 
STDAandSTDB . ' rr p system 
back to normal AMSDQS tf you 
don J i want or need to go bao I 
the normal system then you can 
erase these programs leaving you 
wrih a very healthy 202k d«k. It i* 
im po rt a nt however to leave the 
patches SUPERA and SUPERB 
on the disk so that you can access 
the 202k format, erasing these 
programs wtif not damage the for- 
mat or retoafs* any more space but 
instead mean that you must run 
the patches from a different disk 
before you can use any of ttw 
superformatted risks 

The SUP208 formal, on the 
Other hand, utilises the whole disk 
and SO you cannot store the patch 



i on the same disk instead you 
must run the patches from another 
disk before you can use the 208k 
format disk, The patches are the 
same as those used for the 202 
format and so you mutt either 
create a disk of 202 format first so 
#ou can run the patches or you 
can run the patches from wtiNn 
the HANDYMAN package. Ideally 
you should have two drives, one 
which contains the mam program 

and a second that contains a 208k 
format disk to store data on, but 



YOUR DISK'S 




you should find it wy easy to use 
enter of the formal with a s*ngte 
tfvi 

The 202 and 208 formal* can 
ateobei*edttomCPrtwt2 T 3ofCP/ 
M pkis smip+y by copysng the 4 
lites found on the HANDYMAN 
drsk onto your backup system 
A* 

Wrtn both AMSDOS and CP/M 
it * possible to have either or both 
of the drives m any format that you 
wish 40 there are no compatibility 
problems , and once the system is 
set up you just use rt as normal 

The TRANSFILE utility works m 
the same manner as ftiecopy don 
under CP M but is specify con 
figured to wort with super format 
disks As each file is road from disk 
you ere asked whether you wish to 
copy it or not- Hitting V wtti mean 
■ne file i* to be copied wbtfe N 
i jbi skip onto the next file m the 
M. Once all the setechons have 
been made the program wii set 
about copying the Tiles Que to 
small differences between normal 
text Wet end Wes used under CP. 
M the program w&l on encounter- 
ing one or the other, ask you to 
distinguish between the two men* 
uaty The program will not copy 
SYS files, so they must be set to 
DtR before they can be copied, 
and also any programs that are 
read onty will be set to read/write 
cm the destination disk. Protected 
programs, tftanktuNy* remain pro- 
tected. 

DISC RELEASE will copy a 
whole dUc onto tape so that those 
little used programs Ihal you may 
need at times can be stored and 
no longer ciuttsr up valuable disk 
space. The tape can then be 
loaded beck onto the disk at a later 
date though the disk met you use 
to load the software back onto will 
c* totally changed so it is impossi- 
ble to merge software from the 
tape onto a disk with programs 
rireedy on- Thm is because the 
tape simply writes over everything 



on the disk. 

DISC SEARCH is like an ASCII 
editor for disks.. It will search tor a 
specified string on the disk and 
then let you edrt it to your hearts 
content The best, and most tun, 
use tor this was changing the 
scrolling messages in games 
Custom isatron, that's where it s aft 
at! The screen looks something 
like a dtek sector erjkar, end 
indeed acts in the tame way: You 
can enter data in he* or ASCII, tog- 
gle between pages of text and 
search tor other strings tt differs 
from the normal sector editors in 
that you cannot select a specific 
track or sector, you may only step 
through onto the next sector 

RLE SEARCH m m the same 
vam as the DISC SEARCH prog- 
ram , on ry it will instead find a prog- 
ram on a disk end allow you to edit 
ther than shooting In the dark 
si you wanted loedrt one part iculer 



program 

FIL LM. 



fLEMATE will dump out a 
specified file m any one of 4 for- 
mats An ASCII dump, A HEX 
dump. LIST file and TYPE file 
utilities, Each will either pnnt theif 
output Id the screen or printer The 
difference between LIST file and 
TYPE file are subtly different 
TV PE simply prints Out the file as 
it wouW dp under CP/M. LIST on 
the other hand also prints line 
numbers 

The last program is MENU 
MAKER 11 .ri in fact a disk lite" 
agar which wilt allow you to run any 
fife that you select using the cur- 
sor: It wri show up the Nee under 
all user number a and once one has 
been selected it will load the Hie in 
that particular user, 

s is Mt about the best disk 
utility that I have had to us e and 
perfectly compliments master 
DISC which is available af 
ratery. 



Once again 
SCREWDRIV 



IVER award. 



gi}\ a GOLD 



THE 

AMSTRAD 

CP/M 



by Andrew Clark* and 
David Powys-Lybbe. 
price £12.95 paper back, 
£14.96 ring bound, Af ML 
Systems 



There are three types of people 
who might consider this 520 page 
book, those who know nothing, 
thoae who know a little,, and those 
who know a lot. And there are 
three levels of knowledge they 
might want to get to; knowing what 
to do (without knowing why), 
knowing quite a bit, and true hairy 
hackeroom So the question £ 
can anyone get to where they want 
by using this book"? The answer m 
yes, almost anyone r 

The book is drvfcJsd mto five sec - 
tiorts, each containing a number of 
chapters, The first section gives a 
history and introduction to CP/M 
Section two r& about uStftg CP/M, 
and hr* will probably have the 
greatest appeal to a lees experi- 
enced GPOH2& Of pcwfese 
user. Writing Cp/m software takes 
up me ag geaff cnunx pi me dook 
and I nd udae aM those honet^kiua 
Ms of idrgon, claarty explained 
and made as simple as they will 
ever toe GSX r the graphics system 
extensions, is very well exptaned. 
Section four dears with njrtnjra 
languages such as Rases/ and C 
from within CP/M, and has finally 
explained to me what a macro 
assembler is. 

Finally section five m appen- 
dices concerning such things as 
how the C12&8258 implement 
i tions differ frorrv the usual, and giv- 
ing an "insight" into the wo r ki ngs 
ot the CCP tConsote Command 
Processo*]. 

The books ends with seven 
pages of indie* which could have 
been twice as long P but appan 
The authors wanted to kmp A Sim- 
It you neither know, nor cere, 
about the difference between 
COOS and BIOS and simply want 
access to the wealth of program 
which nm under CP/M, this book 
has an idiots gukJe I 'How to 
switch on your Amstrad in four 
easy lessons") tt will teach you 
how to copy files and discs, and 
give you the information required 
by any "Install" program, The 
book was onginalry intended to be 
given away free with every 



Amstrad, arid ta very useful for any 
CP/M user, Note despite the titles 
thw book ia very useful for CP/M 
unplug 02) _gwiw_ii wetf, 
because the special vwsion 3 fea- 
tures are always contrasted with 
those of version 2 2. 

if you already know quite a bit, 
and want to know everything,, then 
th*e realy is the book for you. It 
contains every concervabto can, 
vector, ^impbtock, and table .from 
QSX to XREF via ASM and SID 
The book is so long that the origin 
nai publishers refused to produce 
it, saying about haff the number of 
pages would be better, and this is 
mainly due to the very clear and 
comprehensive layout of tables 
and maps of, fbr example, page 
zero mitiaksetion 

If yqu didn't understand any of 
that, men dont worry neither dkf 
W Seriously though B the more nor- 
mal user shouldn't mink that ha p s 
paying for a tot of useless stuff, as 
ttus dook ta cneaper man certain 
other books of haff the length. 
Also, donl worry that the exam* 
pies are in Cand Assembler rt you 
don't know these languages you 
am not going to need the exam- 
ples which include witting a RSX 
pnnt spooler. Unfortunately, one 
set of users will be very sightty M 
□own. irwoooft contains wstso* a* 
the commands for ED , Pip etc but 
doesn't provide very much in the 
way of examples of use, eepectaly 
for 3*0. the debugger So hawing 
been given the commands, the 
user stii has to fddto a bit to get 
the beet results ■ 

A Note ol Fiddling: fiddling it 
getting a disk which doesn't hmm 
anything important on it . putting a 
tew of the CP/M bundled prog- 
rams onto 1 . and pressing buttons 
at random to see what happens 
This is a surprtsingfy effective way 
1 a piece 



to 

especiaiy if you intersperse 
hddlmg wtth reading the manuarl 
User- fnendfy programs written for 
"durnb-usera" try to prevent the 
need lor fiddling, so you get 
acceptable reacts much quicker, 
but don't have half as much fur 

So if you are willing to fiddle i 
brt k this book ts the ideal compan- 
ion, if you know nothing, and want 
to know everything now, then 
spend E3O0 on a course on CP/M 

The typeface is laser printer out- 
opposed to proper 
but after about two 
pages you don't notice rt — m tact 
it a a benefit The best thmg about 
this book ia how rt explains what 
CP/M is i won't apod the fun, but 
it involves hamburgers! Sfeniarfy. 
RSX and Q$X (Resident and 
Graphic System Extensions) are 
made simple, and their impor- 
tance highlighted, In m amusing 
manner. 

On a "pages per pound" scale, 
this book scores much higher than 
most other*, being the cost of a 
disk -based game but far longer* 



Once you get into the world of 
CP/M, ytxi'M wonder how you ever 
fj«3 without rt 1 



AMTJX Christmas Special 1 986 93 




HAVING A HAPPY BIRTHDAY 




4l ■ ft 

U hi 

^^w% 



Software companies seem to 
come and go but Bracknell 
based Mikro-Gen continue to go 
from strength to strength They 
even managed to survive a party 
of journalists, including our very 
own Crumbly, who amved to he(p 
them celebrate their recent fifth 
btfthday party 

lis amazing how often we read 
about a well known software com- 
pany going to the wall of being 
taken over by one of the bag boys 
m the busies* In this day and age 
us nice to see tnat a software 
house can continue to survive and 
publish successive games (ha! 
appeal to true people who really 
Count - the customers* 

Mikro-Gen are one of the few 
companies who have been around 
since the "beginning" yet stHl 
remain totally independent. Their 
recent fifth birthday coincided, 
more or less, wrth their moving mio 
new, purpose bu*rt premises in the 
United Kingdoms answer to 
Amerhca ' s Silicon Valley, Brack nei I 
in Berfesh-ire- 

Headed by managing director. 
Mike Meek. Mikro Gen are one Of 
the tew software houses which 
incorporate all aspects of software 
publishing under One roof, from 



Managing director Mike Meek, 
rtjps a serious discussion with 
our vary own uttra-CQOi Crum- 
bly. 

the initial game idea, through 
programming and duplicating, 
right down to the despatch of the 
finished product to distributor 
This enables the company to keep 
a close eye on all stages of pro- 
duction, ensuring quality conttcd of 
the highest standard 

The greatest asset of any com- 
pany is its staff, and this would 
appear to be very true of Mikro- 
Gen When the company was 
formed, five years ago, Mike Meek 
had a well paid job with Data Pro- 
cessing Customer Engineering, a 
mainframe maintenance com- 
pany He pined forces with 
another computer literate, Andrew 
Lawne Since then the company 
has grown substanually hike's 
wife, Dons, came aboard as com- 
pany secretary. Linda Peacock 
brought her marketing skills, and 
more recently Rod Cobain has 
joined as Sates Director 

Mikro-Oen operates nke a 
close-knit family, and there 
appears to be ■ strong loyalty 
amongst the employees, In the 



GRAPHIC 

A software package called Max- 
has be&\ launched by Advanced 
Memory Systems of Warrington 
for the CPC range or machines, rt 
provides a graphic extension 10 
the disk Nina system and offers a 
front end WIMP environment with 
a wide range of disk management 
operations It works wilh 
keyboard. joystick and with the 
AMX Mouse. 

Disk cataloguing into a window 
of up to two disk drives is possible, 
with the catalogue presented in 
icon form and sorted by name, file 
type r Of length. InforrnatKJn which 
can be displayed includes the 
number of Mes and byles used, 



(MAD) MA* 

and disk 
edited. 



sectors loaded and 



Files can be executed m basic 
and machine code and their 
details displayed They can be 
deleted, renamed, protected or 
unprotected, copied between 
tfnves. dumped and listed. There 
is a control panel for the selection 
of screen colours, keyboard delay, 
repeat rales, mouse sensitivity, 
and the mode entered upon leav- 
ing the Max, The screen can be 
dumped to Epson compatible 
pnnters, and there is a Help and 
Note Pad facility. H is available on 
disk with a manual and reference 
guide and costs CI 9. 95. 



tarty days freelance programmers 
were employed, but today there is 
a growing in -house team The 
longest serving programmer is 
Chrm Hms^ey who has been with 
the company since 1983, Nick 
Jones has worked for them for 
over a year, while Stuart Hibbert 
has been a learn member for over 
six months. Recent add 1 ions to 
the team have been Led Sfcirenko 
and James Gardener 

Mikro -Gen is revamping ils 
image, and has recently thrown 
out ihe old rainbow coloured pac- 
kaging and incorporated the ram- 
bow Into the new logo 11 has also 
introduced a reviewers club 
where local youngsters, who own 
a variety of machines, come in and 
are given the opportunity to see 
forthcoming releases in their early 
stages Tfm only "fee " for the club 
is m the form oi wi men comments 
and constructive criticism. The 
mam problem with the reviewers' 
club is dragging the youngsters 
away from the games at ihe end of 
the night Sessions tend to carry 
on for much longer than intended , 
resulting m certain members of the 
Mikro-Gen Staff getting into work 
the following morning looking 
decidedly ' ' bleary eyed . 



FROM MELBOURNE TO 
MASTMTROIIIC 

Melbourne Hour** gyp 
wno. Geoti Heath, hat iomed 

lill^H |p£l '.*JlSt 

m haad of new business 
development Geoti*,* 
post wiW give tim the scope to 
explore new areas of pc- 
growl h 

During his spell at Melbourne 

House Geoff tod Ihem to many 

-see*, mr iMtGamt 



£ Mpkxttn m n Thai he wi 

involved in bringing out 1964', 
best setbng gam*. Ghostty ttm* 
while working for ActlvisAQfi 




Tfm stm otthe day - the on* and 
Only Nosformtu the Vamp 

FANGS 
FOR THE 

MEMORY 

Never one to miss out on a bnt ol 
wtne, women and song, Richard 
Eddy tramped oh down to London 
to see the delectable Mandy 
Key ho m a dingy crfd cry pi. tor the 
launch of Nosferatu The Vampyre 

Have you ever noticed what a 
nice tube station Tottenham Court 
Road is"? No? You reulJy should 
take a look some lime. I did while 
I was laying to work out where 
Bioomsbury Road was Tot- 
tenham Court Road i sn t that good 
actually because it doesnT tell you 
where Bioomsbury Road <s* 

Leave lube in the hope of a sign 
- no luck but found a friendly 
Chestnut h In in stead, 

' Bioomsbury Road? Second on 
the left guv 1 Tramp off down a 
busy looking street but there is no 
Sign of I crypt, spot Cairo Edgley 
disappearing mto Rainbird HQ, 
tJ Hello Claire' says I but no 
response. &aiy old moo. 

Walk a bit further end see big 
red sign saying To the Crypt' 
Great! 

Red lights abound, smoke 
pours from a generator and Mandy 
mumbles that the great Noaferatu 
is about to appear Wooopoee 1 

Mandy disappears off as I help 
myself to a glass of Bull's Blood, 
mmmm moe- 

Moments later Mandy reap- 
pears with several others from the 
Piranha team dragging, some- 
what precariously, a coffin behind 
Ihem The lights dim and the coffin 
lid stirs - out stumbles a rather 
dazed Nosleratu, slightly the 
worse for wear alter hte journey 
Screams rage am he goes for some 
of our necks, ouch* Decide the 
best course ol action would be to 
hide behind Mandy — good think- 
ing, get another glass of Bull's 
Blood 

Quite a few dignitaries turned op 
for the bash including the Design 
Design team - programmers of 
Nosteratu. Fergus McNeil from 
Delta 4 who is currently writing the 
flrtl Piranha adventure. The Col- 
our Of Magic, Don Priestly of Trap- 
door fame and the editor of 2000 
AD, to celebrate the forthcoming 
launch of the Rogue Trapper 
game. 

In the end it was a nice day out. 



94 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 




JOINING FORCES 



Adventure wizards. Level 9 have, 
signed a contract with satincai 
authors Delta 4! or a spoof ad * en- 
ture which anouia be published 
next Easter. 

H is the first time the two have 
got together to work on a project. 



although \ oth companies are well 
known individual [y for their 
humourous adventures. Delia 4 
writes hifarious lampoons like 
Bored of the Rmgs wfrHe Level A s 
range of more traditional adven- 
tures a*e lull of puns and witty 



lev*/ 9 arid Pe^fct 4 read f #w fin* 
print in the contract. L eft to ftght 
they are Mrke Austin, Fergus 
McNeM and Stephanie Stranger. 

responses. 

The trtte and storyline of the new 
game is being kept a secret, but 
Mike Austin, a pan net fll Level 9 
says it is very funny and could be 
the funniest spoof adventure ever i 



SPEAKEASIES AND 
BOOTLEGGERS 

Head back to the good old days of 
mobsters and prohibition with the 
tttest offering from Mikro-Gen 
Cop Out transports you back m 
tune to Amenea in the 1920*8, You 
can take parr m battles between 
the mobsters and the police, 
search out speakeasies, and track 
down illegal stills m this shoot -em- 
upgeme. 

Programming for this game took 
almost S'K months to complete 
The player takes the roie of a cop 
on the streets, and has to rety on 
his qyck reflexes and wit to wipe 
out cnme he does have the law on 
Ns *de , and the law , m la wisdom , 
baa seen fit to provide him with a 
special gun with an even more 
Special sight Once you get the 
hang of it, this gun helps reduce 
the opposition quite drastically. 

If you fancy playing the role of a 
goody-goody then Cop Out costs 
f 8 95 on cassette and an extra C5 
tor the disk version 



JONATHON'S GAME 
ON THE WAY 



One of th* in at games to be 
released on Domark s new 
Streetwise label is the result of an 
award winning game design sub- 
mitted by CRASH reader. 
Jonathan Eggieton 

Jtor-7>aphas been programmed 
by the Manchester based Com- 
pany, Design Design, in close co- 
operation with Jonalhon The 
program gives a fast and furious 



romp through a myriad Of scrolling 
screen sets with the playef con- 
trowing a mechanical cat -like robot 
with exceptionally springy legs. M 
bounces and blasts its way around 
each level, battling against an 
array of fearsome opponents. 

The game is available for the 
CPC range of micros and costs 
£9.95 on cassette and £14 95 on 



WATCHING THEM WATCHING US 



AMTtX* Towers was recently trs- 
f ted by two members of the 
isoenffy formed Amsfrsd Group 
Fetation-. They braved British 
ft*. 1 , framing all the way from 
Manchester to Ludlow to write a 
feature on our glorious meg for 
mm own penodtceL 

While they were busy interview* 
mgour very own Crumbly Ed., and 
snapping pictures of anything that 
moved for stood atiW). wedeoded 
to turn the rabies on them, Came- 
ron managed to take some very 
candid shots Of both Cltnt 
Heyftge*, the acting president, and 
hts tovefy aide. Lesley Deaktn We 
have to say nice things about them 
because they both enjoy per- 
ticketing in martial arts* 




Our ultra-coot editor obviously enjoys 
attractive ladtes. 



being interviewed 




ITS HELLO TO JAKE 

Jarne Denning has pined . 
bourne House (Publishers) Ltd. as 
marketing manager for the full 
range of computer books and 
software She joins the company 
from Oxford University Press ' 
(USA) 




™ 



Foftowung no hugt 

9UCCPSS pi 

CPC machine? Domark 
now announced p 
out f or lh# PCWO? 
AH oMh*< game* 
turea 



Domafte haw afeu txouu 
a follow up ft 



and £19% cask and 
untertainmQ a- *nus 

atreacfv ha*-- 
Gtwus Edmon y& 
kafimt edition as a separate quea- 1 

andC 



THE FIRST CENSORED GAME 

Software company, CRL, have 
released the first computer game 
with a 15's certificate. Based on 
ihe book by Bram Stoker Dmcuta 
is both a graphics and text adven- 
ture game ft was primarily the hor- 
rific language qf The ie*t which 
nt ompted the 6ntJ*h Board of Film 
Classification to take ihis unpre- 
cedented step. 

The wnter and programmer of 
the game, Rod Pike, alerted CRL 
to the fact the program might be 
unsuitable for younger children 

The implication is that Irom no w 
on every computer game mav 
have to be vetted and awarded a 
suitable certificate. 



MURDER OFF MIAMI 

cm 

ipec- 

novel of 

Set you ptay 

Detective 
fo mv in oiegad sutctito 

fdet oc 

■ 

shed Several, 
people on board haw I 

■ 



AMTtX Christmas Special 1 986 95 




K2JS8S& 



/s^CCOM 



IN FOGRAM E S are a French com* 
pany who now have a more than 
steady foothold m Britain, thanks 
to Thorn employing the mass 
Wants of the ever jolly, Dave 
CrossweHer irtfograme* haw 
aba wasted no time in producing 
gaffes over here and their celeb- 
ratory release The Sidmy Affaif 
will soon be gracing the software 
shops shelves. 

To heratd ihese not totaHy 
unconnected even is INFOG- 
RAMES are going to foot the bill 
for a Ivcky winner, and Iter cho- 
sen travelling companion, 10 jei oft 
to Pans fbr three ntghtswiwettwy 
cm sample the delights of France 
and stroll along Parisian walk- 
ways. 

The prize consists of the air flight 
to Pans and back home, travel to 
and from Charles Oe Gaulle Alport 
to the hotel m Pans, and accomo- 
dat «on and continental style break- 
fast in tne hotel All the winner will 
have to do rs find their own way to 
either Gatwick or Heathrow, and 
back home again; pay for other 
meals while m Ranee, and pay for 
any other expenses mcurrad- 

So what have you got to do to 
deserve such a prize Wash David 
Crosswefier a car for a year? fnot 
nllBfe Repamt lhe INFOGRAMES 
mansion m London using your ton- 
gue as a brush? (yeech r > 

No all you have to do is to writo 
a diary of the three days you may 
wm in Pans noting down all lhe 
pieces that you intend to go and 
the rights (hat you want to see- 
Simple eh? Just scribble down 
your would be diary of the three 
days from Friday to Sunday on no 
more than 2 sheets of A4 paper 
and send them to PARISIAN 
WALKWAYS, CHATEAU AMT1X! 
PO Bo* 10, Ludlow* Shropshire, 
S YB IDS to amve here before the 
Qth January. Et Bon Chance mes 
pMU 



ALL entrants will receive a £3.00 
voucher redeemable against any 

INFOGRAMES 
game from their 
mail order 
department! 



96 AMTIX Christmas Sp( 











Contact your nearest computer store 
lor details on tutl tinge or clip / ^ 

the coupon f >jfc 

Prices from £8,95 - S69.95 X a 9 

iCtronics L j^ fe > 

FREEPOST Pnfoid Lane. ^T ^T 

Bridlington • -6 



WRAP UP YOUR 

AMSTRADS IN A 

NICE COSY COVER 

AS A CHRISTMAS 

TREAT 

Let's face it f our Aflutrad midlines arc delicate thin 
ihcy must be treated with the same love arid affection 
\iui would treat yom hcufcsi and dearest* he n vmir wife, 
pel Beagk whatever, I hen perhaps thej deserve even 
more attention] So we nice people hen- «it AM I IX 1 1 
have conic up an utterly hnllkint sol u lion — why nottovti 
them up with .1 set of warm AMTIX! dusietm 

AMTIX! have produced a unique diistcover, in a subtle 
\luidc of grey with black double stitching and embla/tmed 
with the new AMTIX! logo for the PCW8256 and PCWK5 12 
machines, the CPC464, CIH 664, and CP< nucTOi 

with either green screen Of colour monitors — as well as foi 
ihe new IBM done PC1512, The covers (01 the Jm 
machines come in three parts, one for the monitoi . one foi 
1 he keyhnard, and one to keep your printer clean, while 
those for the other micros are nifty k>kmi two piece out) 
The) .ite totally resilient toduM. liquids and all sorts ■>! 
household nasties. 

All the covers are exclusively available through AMTIX! 
mail order. 

We are 10 sure that the\ won! ri|\ spin 01 Tear m 
giving a two year guarantee with them Make youi chequei 
or p orders y to Ncwsfield Limited We aie um- 

MTieed these COV3K arc Li major umirihuticin to Amstrad 

safety. 

Ul si ( ON I -KOKIU k fUKM. 

Dear AMTIX! 

I*m worried about my Ymsimd mid %h»u Id be ^ratt-iul if 
yitu ctiuld send me — sel(M of dust covers* I enclose a i In qui 
postal order fur the relevant price per set. 

I wnnl < ) sells* uf Joyce dust covers til CT.95 per Ml 
including |mj^i and packing. 

I want I J «ellis l uf dust cover* tor mv i PC 464, CPC6M, 
CT< 6 1 1H (with CTMM0 — colour monitor 1 at £9,95 per K4 
including post ;md [lacking, 

1 want ■ 1 m t. v of dust MM1 for my CPC'464, CPC6M. 
CPC6I28 <with (JTM — green screen) at £¥,W per set 
mi J 11 dint: prist and packing, 

I WWmi i f seKsi uf dust covers far my 1*115 12 at EV.95 per 
set including prat and packing, 

PI I \Sh HI I IN IMF \PPKOPKl ATE SECTION VEEY 
CLEARLY* 



NAME .... 

MU1RKSS 



0262 602541 V g> *j 

PT1 " ■:«!•* ^ ^ ^* ^ 



„„., POSTCODE ..„. «.,••.««.«**••»*«*«.. 

Send vour orders to: 

AMTIX! lU SI COVERS OFFER. AMTIX!, PO Box 10, 
Ludtou, Shropshire. SY8 1 1)1*, 

AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 97 




93 AMTIX Christmas 







The way in which a magazine 
is put together seems to fas- 
cinate readers. So we 
thought we would treat you 
a 'behind-the-scenes 
expose 1 — the rarely glimp- 
sed world of computer 
magazine people. Who 
knows, someone might even 
turn it into a TV soap — 
something which Richard 
Eddy, Massimo Valducci and 
Tony Clarke would enjoy no 
end. So fasten your seat belt s 
sit back for a few pages p and 
find out from the Experts 1 
how it's all done ... or sup- 
posed to be done! 

THE EDITORIAL MEETING 

The fust stage of each and ©very issue of 
AMTIX' ^ an t ditoi tail Meeung, These gather* 
<ng* are vitoL not only to ensure that everyone 
rs familiar with what will go ntr> the issue, but 
lo o^ermme what that material will be. AMTIX! 
Editor, Malcolm Harding i$ m the chair; where 
he's no slouch. Hrs function as to clarify 
everyone's opinions about the brting issues of 
i hfl month Also present are Richard Eddy, who 
as Software Editor, is <n charge of sorting out 
what's to be reviewed and when, our Technical 
man. Tony Clarke and our Mafia man, Mas- 
simo Valducci Each person has their Own 
opinions to be expressed as to the attitude the 
magazine will take to reviews, Features and 
VQuiar spots Richard usually presents a 
breakdown on the AMT1X' ChallerKj*? for the 
month — who the challenger <$, what game is 
being ployed, and so on Times must be 
arranged with Cameron Pound, the in- house 
photographer, to ensure pictorial coverage Of 
ihe event 

Another vitaJ aspect ol me Editorial Meeting is 
to establish the schedule for the issue — its 
always a tight one. especially in the run up to 
the Christmas and New Year issues. 
Magazines are done to an unyielding deadline 
because of the dtstnbulion system One day 
late out of the printer cam mean a week late on 
the news stand so the deadline must be met 
no matter whai ihe cost is toman or machine 1 
Its also al I his first meeting that the decision 
is taken as lo who will work on what nrtides, 
who ps going off to do interviews, who will wort 
on the news etc, etc 

PAGINATION MEETING 

Several days after the Editorial Meeting, it rs 
lime to dec^*e how the venous elements of 
AMTIX 1 are going to tit into the issue's page 
allocation. This is done at something called a 
Pagination Meeting and Oils is rea&y where 
editorial meets art Production Comptroller. 
David Western, Art Director, Dick Shiner, and 
our new editorial supremo, Publishing Execu- 
tive, Graeme Ktdd, join Malcolm Harding and 
Richard Eddy and between them they hammer 
out how many pages each item will require. By 
I hi* time the number of games to be reviewed 
is hopeful ry clear, and some idea has been 
canvassed as to their individual merits and 
therefore whether they need colour pages or 
monochrome — that's bLack and white to the 
uninitiated — and how many pages, A small 
contingency figure rs allowed for any games 
which might be late arrivals Similarly the fea- 
tures are allocated pages as are the regulars 
and the whole is totted up. David then goes 
away and. taking into account the requirement 
for advertising pages P plans the issue on a 



Young Mick cmugfti rf#*p 
m concentration 



large t»c* off sheer, ft gets its name tram the 
practice of ticking oH competed pages, and it 
la used throughout the month by the layout 
artists m the art department and also by Crum- 
bly who has a photostat copy. 



PLAYING THE OAME 

Reviews play an important part in a magazine 
like AMTtXf and the mtearity of the reviewing 
team is paramount Before reviews can be 
compiled, the games must be played through 
Most Qi ihe mam room in Am*!* 1 Towers ta set 
aside specialty for this purpose with several 
machines, cassette decks and disk drives per ■ 
manently at the ready The I earn — Malcolm 
Harding Richard Eddy, Massimo Valducci. 
and Tony Clarke — each take their I urn to sea 
the selection of games up tor review Some- 
times, and if required, playing sessions can go 
on lor a considerable time, often until late at 
night or the next morning 1 Gradually, a picture 
is built up m each reviewer's mind as to me 
merits of each game, but before (he writing 
Can begin, some argument must take place 
over the ratings, since I he finished figures are 
an amalgam of their opinions In an attempt to 
provide the best balance 

WRITING THE REVIEWS 

During the games playing phase, it is mutually 
worked out who will actually be responsible tor 
writing the mtroduciron section to each review 
— effectively be™ the review's author Mal- 
colm Harding and Richard Eddy lend to be the 
ones who take the separate etements — intra, 
three comments and ratings — and compile 
them into the finished article 
AMTIX 1 is all electronic The mam writing is 
done on Apncot X I compters using Superwn 
teres a word processing package, but as there 
aren't enough Apncoistor everybody, we also 
use Amstrad B256 machines and portable, 
battery-or -mains operated NEC keyboards. 
The latter take up to 1 2K of written information, 
and the contents can be dumped to the hard 
drsk in an Apncot within a few seconds 
Generally, the reviews are the first to get wrtt* 
ton* but m the same time special articles are 
also being done by whoever has been 
assigned the task ITus sometimes means 
interviews over the phone, sometimes a trip 
out complete with micro cassette recorder and 
camera, and sometmes it means members of 
a software house visiting our premises, 



FROM THE TYPED TO THE 
PRINTED WORD 

How does whai we write on an Apncot end up 
on the magazine's pages? All the various arti- 
cles, reviews and items slowly build up as indi- 
vidual fries on the Apncot "s hard disk When 
Malcolm has finished "subbing" — checking 
that the grammar arid spelling are correct 
(hopefuiiyl — the files are sent to our typeset* 
tors, a local firm some five minutes walk away 
and it is here the real work is done, turning the 
tent into ASCII characters and shunting it all 
through a Linotypesetter Th*s computer effac 
tively tells a photoprint unit what tetters (iden- 
tified by their individual ASCII code] to put 
where, m what size and weight (eg, medium 
feii bold text or itetfct, it also sets the text on 
various widths to fit the magazines columns. 
The result is a thin roll of photo paper contain- 
ing the file m its finished form, Once it's been 
checked through editorial r the typesetting 
goes upstairs lo Art 1 for layout This process 
continues throughout the schedule nght up to 
a few hours before the last page is ready to 
leave tor the pnnlers. 



SCREEN PHOTOGRAPHY 

in charge of all photography 19 Cameron 
Pound, a Ludlow local. Cameron has a special 

AMTI X Christmas Special 1 986 99 



JJjPi Jonathan c 



room and here on a large table a Spectrum 
Amstrad and Commodore 6* ace permarwtty 
set up with their respective monitors. The 
cameras (35mm for Wack and white and 3k 
square tor colour transparencies) are focused 
on ttie monitor screen with an exposure time 
of a quarter of a second. This allows 6 TV 
fr ame * to be photographed, which gets rid of 
the "rot bar' effect that a more normal expo- 
sure time results m. due to the luminescence 
of the TV screen 

These films. (ogeih&r with any other photo- 
graphs that may be needed, are processed 
and printed m our own darkroom, |ust around 
the comer from the screen photography room. 
Cameron produces contact sheets from which 
the editors and art departments can choose 
which pictures need enlarging , Once the prints 
have been mode. Richard ensures that they 
ve merited up correctly on the back, so thai 
the layout people In Art ' will know to which 
piece of text ihey belong — otherwise we 
might end up with the wrong screen shot illus- 
trating the review 1 

PUTTING IT DOWN ON PAPER 

The art team (they also work on sister publica- 
iw* CRASH and ZZAP 1 ) is headed by David 
Western, Art Director. Dick Shiner. Assistant 
Art Director Gordon Drue*; and Art Supremo. 
Okver Frey AJi actually do layout as well m 
ther official jobs of directing and gutiing the 
Other members. One of the most vital functions 
$ performed by one of Nawiflekfft longest 
employed members. Matt new UffmdeH. who 
used to write reviews for CRASH before 
becoming the process camera operator — 
more of him in a moment 1 
The artwork is laid out on grid sheets", paper 
a little larger than the finished page, marked up 
with the finished page edges, text column 
widths and other useful information The grids 
are printed in a pale blue ink which the process 
camera can't see 1 when the page It photo- 
graphed. The typesetting is cut up rnto suitable 
column lengths and stuck down in place 
together with the PMTs (more of that in a mo|< 
When a page is competed H us set aside logo 
under the camera" Close liaison with editorial 
is essential it this stage to ensure that the right 
things happen' 



THE ROLE OF THE PROCESS 
CAMERA 

AMT1X! {and NewsHekfs other publication** is 
unusual in as much as almost all the technical 
processes involved, except colour origination 
and printing, are done m- house Much of this 
takes place on the Process Cameras — there 
are three of them _ under Matthew s watchful 



Black and white photographs cannot be used 
in the* original state because the entire pnnt 
ing process (even for colour) works on purely 
black or whrte — no in between greys Wm 
photographs have So the first thing that must 
happen is to convert the original continuous 
tone" photograph to a ' half tone ' (also called a 
PMT — Photo Mechanical Tim. a "tmt J being 
closely placed dots) The photo is placed on 
the copyboard of the process camera and 
reproduced by being re- photographed 
through a specially designed tint screen. The 
result is a copy of the original, but which is 
mode up entirety of black and white dots The 
process camera can also altar the original's 
size from between 25% and 400% at the same 
time, so the finished result w»n fit the layout 
artists design for the page 
Si mi 'any. text can be enlarged or reduced if 
required, or reversed out 1 (white toners on 
black) by the same machine. 
Once pages have been completed, they have 
to be converted to ' finished film' from which 
the pnnter will eventually make the pnnting 
ptates The finished page artwork is placed 
under the process camera and photographed 
in much the same way as the PMTs were made, 
except without the tint screen in place, since 

100 AMT1X Christmas Special 1986 



all the elements now on the page are already 
in fust black and white. The resumng exposure 
goes onto film negative rather than PMT paper, 
and is put through a complex processor which 
develops, fines and dnes the image m 60 sec- 
onds The film negative is then ' spotted ' to get 
nd of any whrte p&i holes caused by dust ( and 
ts ready to go off to the printer. 

ART AND ADS 

In addition to Arecimg the layout process 
David and Otiver have other vital functions 
Advertisers send us colour separations" of 
their page advertisements. These have to be 
logged in to ensure we have everything ready 
for an issue, and tagged with a page number 
so the printer will know where to put them. It 
takes a long time! 

Oliver, of course, to one of AMTW b two illus- 
trators, the other being relative newcomer, Ian 
Craig. They do the covers and so on. and their 
finished Colour work, together with any colour 
editorial pages, have to be sent to an outside 
scanning house The function of a scanning 
house* is to take me base layout sheel * con- 
taming any text in position and marked boxes 
showing where the transparency pictures or 
Olivet and Ian s original paintings, are sup- 
posed to go, and combine this base with the 
colour separations of the colour pictures 

Full colour is achieved by printing separate 
black and while images. There ^ four colours 
used — black, magenta, cyan and yellow — 
and each layer requires its own piece of black 
and white Mm containing the information for 
the four printing plates Each plate is then 
mked wiih its 'process colour'. From thecoma 
frnalion of these four, any colour can be pro- 
duced A mono page has only one piece of film 
to pnnt from, but a colour page, obviously, has 
to have tour which win be printed over each 
other for the final effect This outside repro 
house 1 sends the finished colour films direct to 
the printer to meet up with the mono Mm com 
mg from AMTW Towers, 

PRINTING 

When the due date arrives, all the film has lo 
be sent to the printing company — m AMTTWs 
case — Carlisle Web Offset m Carlisle. Cum- 
bria- They take all our various films and "plan 1 
them together In sets of 8 pages , four along the 
bottom end, headto-hei&d, four along the top. 
These 8 page sections ate then exposed onto 
a photo- sensitive plate. The plates are then 
loaded onto Ihe We& printing machine, 8 on 
the top roller, another 8 on the bottom roller, 
to print the 16-page section. These 16 are 
printed simultaneously with another 1 6 page 
mono section and Ihe whole is folded and 
chopped into sections to make a complete 32- 
page section ready for collating, si itching and 
tnmming with the rest of the mag. Neat year 
the printers will have a new press which will 
enable Ihem to pnnt 32 pages at one time m 
full colour 

The web offset press is bfrgger than an old 
si earn locomotive, and prints some 30.000 
copies an hour. To run it up to full speed takes 
approximately an hour, during which time 
numerous adjustments have to be made to 
ensure aM the dots on the four-colour plaies 
are m correct register and the ink balance is 
correct, So evenWore the pnnting run really 
gels under way quite a bit of waste paper is 
produced* This does not go to waste for It is 
eventually re-cycled 

When the prmhng and binding is finished, the 
printer delivers all thfi copies 10 a private 
haulier who is sub-contracted by Carl i ste Web 
Offset They then deliver bundles of the 
magazine to ail the various wholesale houses 
throughout the country. The wholesaler, m 
turn. Breaks down the bundles into smaller 
ones and delivers them to the newsagents, 
hopefully ail m time for the on sate date" 
Meanwhile, back at AMTlXf Towers, work is 
well under way on the following issue of AMTIX 1 
It's a vicious (Gnrj circle and no mistake 
chums- 






^ 




** 



-*■; 



A 



tt's tough al the fop of AMTIX! 
Towers as AssJStonf Art Dirwc- 
1&r> Gordon, c*n testify. 



*'■- 1 



L «■ 



Accounts man, Robert, doing a 
quick spot check on the adver- 
tising p ug&m- 



l*i 



^st ti 






htth*9Wt¥ 



nitride 



. • 



Girtt* time agmn. This hme ,ts 
Fjn who has recertify deserted 
admrniatrahon tor hard labour 
wjh oor new sister magazine. 






^WrtiorT «««** ^ 



22Si/ co/ * M * >•*** *m 



What s this then? it se*m*tfr* 
thigh's the Hmtt for darting 
Denis*! 



Cart mu*l be one of the fittest 
M people st AMTtX! Towers. He's 
constantly commuting by toot 
between here and Grovel Hilt, 



m fcj_, 






*L 



*i 



*« 



*** f 



\\ 



»-"^2,* S9 *""°"" n 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 101 






THINK OF NAMES FOR THE KAT MEN 





AND DESIGN A SHIELD FOR THEM! 



3d 



* 




Win yourself a FLIPBOT, courtesy of DOMARK 



10? 



Our sister magazine CRASH ran a 
compefition not 90 long back 
where the entrants had 10 design a 
computer game with the winning 
entry being programmed by 
Design Design arid publicity 
kings. Domerfc looking after the 
marketing side of it all. Well, after 
two months of the best code 
crunching and publicity possible. 
the game should hit the streets in 
rime for Christmas and will soon 
be available 'o f the Amstrad. Kat 
Tmp is the story of one droids 
fight against all the odds on the 
unhosprtable planet of the Kat- 



Fighting against the odds is 
what I constantly have to do hers 
at AMTiX 1 Towers. Just getting 
rnto my broom cupboard in the 
morning n difficult enough, tor I 
havefosqueeze my way past Mal- 
colm's bathchair without waking 
him up from his morning 40 winks . 



AMnxChn stma$Swo 



Massimo. our resident 
naturalised Italian, still has large 
amounts of Latin blood coursing 
through hts veins if the army of 
haircream tubs, that 1 have to 
negotiate on my way into the 
Ap/TjX 1 little person' s room, is any- 
thing to go by 

Richard Eddy adds to the prob- 
lem of finding space around the 
Towers and although the food that 
liners the editorial floor doesn't 
hang around too tong , poor Came- 
ron's fridge, m which h© has 10 
keep ai I his very expensive film {the 
colours go yuefcy if you lei them 
slay warm for too long!). r§ always 
bunting with cottage cheese and 
pasties for when he gets a sudden 
urge and shouts Monster must 
satr. and runs off 10 Cameron 5 
den 

Tony rs a fanatic for litter. Unfor- 
tunately he haves it and keeps his 
desk overflowing with nasty 
spnkey bits and bobs of hardware. 
We think that he just uses them ai 



'an 966 




to hide behind when MalcolnVs 
shouting about the Technical sec- 
tions of the mag being late? 

So, you can see that M T , Ed h the 
hero in Kal Top has aN my sym- 
pathy as he battles his way around 
the Kal Men's planet. 

What l could do with would be a 



to win. 

What you must do is to give a list 
of 10 possible names to the Kaf- 
men warriors who inhabit the 
planet that poor M.TEd finds him- 
self on, Once you've done Itiafl gel 
out your faithful old arty torts and 
design a shield that would look the 




1 ■ ■ r _ t * ■ — j j 

|giMeEB3BflMj| 



tittle Robot who could clean up 
atl i*r all these people, like the FU P 
BOT'S that Domarfc are giving 
away as the 1 super prizes m this 
competition 

Design Design have put a lot of 
work mto this program so you'll 
have to be prepared to give sortie 
effort into your entries ifyou want 



part if wi&lded by one of your Kat- 
men, 

Put your designs on a piece of 
paper no bigger than 200mm * 
310mm and send them to KAT- 
MAN COMPETITION, AMTIX! 
Towers. PO Box 10. Ludlow, 
Shropshire, SVS 1DB to am«rt 
h#re no later than 8th of January. ; 
Tht« best 10 entries will win one of J 
these cuddly FLIPBOTS 






I 








/Amstrad/ 
Spectrum/ 
Commodore 
Cassette £8.95 
Amstrad Disc £13-95 



MIKRO-GEN 
Unit 15 he Western Centre Western Road 



nell Berks. 



WIN A SOFTWARE 

WARDROBE 



, 



You know how annoying ri is. 
You're tfivited to a swinging prog- 
rammers - party gf!^ ^sn home to 
find that your favourite evef-so- 
trentfy designer software house T 
Shirt or Sweatshirt ri erthor in the 
wash of leaps from your hands and 
mates a break for it before you can 
wear tt for the Nth time. Oh woe! 
Eventual you turn up at the event 
clothed m Aunty Mabel's hand knit- 
ted woolly that you found lurking 
at the back of the wardrobe and 
hew to endure being the but! of an 
the jokes for the entire evening 

Well no longer do you have to 
suffer the jibes and insults of your 



peers — thanks to Kewsfield and 
countless software firms *ho have 
all rallied to the call to save you, 
dear reader from the misery of 
Aunt Mabel's Ghnstmas woollies 
All your favourite software houses 
have got together and in the true 
altruistic spirn of Santa, have all 
piled various T Shirts. Sweatshirts, 
scarves, baseball caps, games 
and posters into several of the 
largest frftybags to give to three 
prize winners for each Ol NewS- 
I's tJriHiant computer 



magazines. 

m you have to do to enter ks to 
have either a Smell. Medium o€ 
Large size chest and an envelope 
with a iftp si amp attached* so any- 
one that doesn I enter must be 
very, very Large, or less than thfee 
teet tall. 

So what do you have to do to 
enter? 

WW. by now you will all know 
every intimate detail concerning 
our very own Crumbly Editor, Mai- 
colmv He* not a bad guy realty and 
we believe we should do our best 
to give him an original tale Christ- 



mas present What we want you to 
do is come up with the most novel 
idea of a Christmas gift tor hrm It 
can be very ong ma i, very mega, or 
very witty. The best ideas wttJ wfci 
the complete wardrobf Send your 
entries to CMJMBLY'S CHRIST- 
MAS GIFT, AMTIK! Towers. P O 
Box 10. Ludlow. Shropshire SYB 
IDS and please remember to 
include youT CHEST SIZE Entries 
must be in by the Sth of January 



v>J^k 




104 AMTJX Christmas Speci 



time one gets soiled!) 



^ ^^—39^ 



m-m 






THE AMTIX! INDEX FOR ISSUES 1-12 



Your #v#f ao helpful minions hare al AMTIX1 
T o w in have compiled, for your convene 
ance and flilectatkin. an index of All the 
loftware game* raviawed sine* our glori- 
oui mag Nit the newi stand*- Thia, we'rt 
sure, will coma m jolly handy at you'll be 
abba lo look up all your fav* game* through 
*oni past. And h*ta is how ft worfcar Firmt 
the 9ime name and it's overall percentage 
rating, men tha producer's ruima and finally 
tha issue and the pag* number . Sim pie isn t 



TITLE /* / PRODUCER / ISSUE/ PAGE 



■ 



21 12 AD 72 Design Oesign 7-20 

ADMIRAL GRAF SPREE 31 Amsoft 2-79 

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL WBevmon Consul - 

tatits 2-42 

AJRWOLF 79EJit*1 23 

ALADDIN'S CAVE 65 Amc 4-23 

ALEX HIGGIN S WORLD POOL 3£PAmsott2- 

27 

ALEX HIQGINS WORLD SNOOKER 41 

Amsort 2-78 

ALIEN 71 Amsof(2-2» 

ALIEN 8REAKIN 4f Amson 1-113 

AUEN 8 9? Ultimate 1-27 

ALIEN HIGHWAY £0 Vortex 8-33 

ALKAHERA 67 Budgi* «-25 

AL-STRAD 58 Rhinosoff 8*81 

AMERICAN FOOTBALL 65 Amsofl 2-75 

AMSGOLF 45 Amsoft 2-27 

ANDROID ONE 2 1 Von ex 1-26 

ANIMATED STRIP POKER 39 Kn^ghtsoft 2- 

41 

AflOO NAV1S 5? Kuma 2-60 

ARNHEM 54 CCS 1-96 

ASHKERTOW 20 Mirrorsoft 1 -B7 

ASSAULT ON PORT STANLEY tfAnuoft 3* 

22 

ASTRO ATTACK £7 Amaoft 1-28 

ASTRO PLUMBER 39 »ue Ribbon 9-26 

ATOM SMASHER f 7 Amsoft 1-27 

AUSTERUTZ MLothtonen 12-77 

A VIEW TO A KILL 45 DGmark 1 -30 



SARCMOU 8 Central SoUjiions 10-90 

BARRY McGUIGANS BOXING 9 3 Act. vision 

4-1& 

BATMAN 92 Oceen 0-18* 11-56 

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS 39 Solar 

Soft wars 2-37 

BATTLE OF BRITAIN 86 PSS 2-110 

BATTLE FOR MIDWAY 57 PSS 2-74 

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS 77 Mritfo-Gon 6- 

32 

BATTLEFIELD GERMANY 93 Cytwrcorn 9- 

46 

BATTLEFRONT 1 Gemral SoMkma 11-43 

BEACH HEAD 57 US Gold 1-20 

BEER HUNTER 76 Global 7-S» 

BIGGLES 54 Mirrorsoft 10-25 

BtNKY 52 Software Projects 2-30 

BLACKSTAR W CRL 10-63 

BLAGGER 55 Ailiaata 2-42 

BLOCKBUSTERS 53 Macaen 11-23 

BLOCKBUSTERS GOLDRUN G1 Macsen 11- 

24 

BOGGIT 91 CRL/Derta 4 11-60 

BOMB JACK 79 Elite 9-22 

BOULDERDASH 89 MirrorSOfl 1-22 

BOUNDER 91 Grami.n Grapnics 9-106 

BOUNTY BOB 62 US Goto 3-16 

3D BOXING 69 Amsoft 2-2* 

BRIOGE 66 Kuma 2-41 

BRIDGE IT TO Artisoft 2-2S 

BRIDGE PLAYER III 70 CP Software 11 -M 

BRUCE LEE 93 US Gold 3-26 

BULLSEYE 54 Macsen 9-37 



aa:r*ii ' T MiT* 1 * - aMl 

BUSTER BLOCK 21 Kuma 11-24 
CASTLE ASSAULT 8 Blue Ribbon 5*29 
CATASTROPHIES 44 Amsoft 2-79 
CAULDRON 92 Palace Software 3-18 
CAULDRON II 94 Palace Software CAUL* 
DRON II - oftware 10-14 

CENTRE COURT 49 Amaoft 1-25 
CHILLER 33 Mastwtronic 1-43 
CHIMERA 86 Firebird 2-73 
CHOPPER SQUAD ;?! interceptor 1-29 
CHUCKIE EGG 69Anf 1-27 
CLASSIC INVADERS 85 Bubble Bus 10-69 
CLASSIC RACING 81 AmsoH 2-» 
CODENAME MAT 74 Amsoft 1 26 
CODENAME MAT 11 72 Domark 1-41 
COLOSSUS 4 CHESS CDS T-26 
COMET 62 Firebird 6-28 
COMBAT LYNX 83 DurtiM 1 -42 
COMMANDO 35 Elite 9-99 
CONFUZION 81 Incentive 1-100 
CONTRAPTION 85 Icon 8-29 
CORE 62 AnT 9-28 
COUNTDOWN 22 Macsen 1 1-f7 
CUBIT 37 AmsoJt 2-78 
CYRUS CHESS 90 Amsofl 2-18 
CYRUS 2 CHESS Amsoft 7-26 

OPS DECATHLON 79 Ocean 1-100 
OF S SUPERTEST 84 Ocean 8-34 
DARK STAR 92 Design Design 1 40 
DARTS 49 Blu<? Ribbon 10-68 
DEATH PITT 68 Durell 1-117 
DEATH WAKE 7J QuiclcsiFva 7-29 
DETECTIVE 25 Annoft 2-30 
DEVIL'S CROWN 52 Probe 1*1 14 
OESERT RATS 88 CCS 9-46 
DIAMOND MINE II 31 Blue Ribbon 6-27 
DISCPOWER Superpower 1-78 
DON'T PANIC 59 Firebird 2-23 
DOOMDARK'S REVENGE 92 Beyond 12-18 
DOOMSDAY BLUES 9 J PSS/ ERE 8-108 
DOORS OF DOOM 89AmsohVGem 4*2S 
DOPPELGANGER 49 AMigaia 1-114 
DOPPLEGANGER 5 J Amencana 11-16 
DR WHO 40 Micropower 10-26 
DRAGONTORC 91 Hewaon 1-18 
DUN DARACH 93 Gargoyle Games 1-43 
DYNAMITE DAN 80 Mirrorsoft 2-29 



mm t 



— 



EIDOLON 
ELECTRO PR 



1-116 
55 Amsoft 2-30 



1 
1 


■ 






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ELtTE 94 Firebird 4-32 
EQUINOX 91 Mrttro Gen 9-88 
ER BERT 69 Microbyla 2-74 
EVERYONESAWALLYaJMikro Genl-117 
EYE SPY 8f Americana 11-23 

FAERIE am Day 3-100 

FA CUP FOOTBALL 66 Virgin 6-28 

FAI PLIGHT 9C The Erige 7-19, 1 1 -59 

FANTASTIC VOYAGE 80 Artisoft 1-117 

FIFTH AX1S9T ActivisW 9-16 

FIGHTER PILOT 79DigilanmefgrtflKin1-115 

FIGHTING WARRIOR 74 Metbourne House 3- 

21 

FINDERS KEEPERS 91 Masteflronic 1-28 

FLIGHT PATH 737 35 Ai%irog 2*30 



FOOTBALL MANAGER 59 Addictive Games 

123 

FOR Bl DDE N PLAN ET 80 Design Design 7-33 

FORMULA 1 RACING 61 Maslenronic 2*41 

FOURMOST ADVENTURES Gte»ba/ 7-« 

FOURTH PROTOCOL 96 Century Comnrxini- 

Ga«OTOl2~37 

FRANK BRUNO'S BOXINQ 8? Elite 1*44 

FRANK N ST1IN fi?Amsoft 1-113 

FRANK IE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD 30 Oc*a* 



FRUIT MACHINE 46 AmsoH 1*117 
FRUITY FRANK 75 Kuma 2-42 

GALACTIC PLAGUE 2* Amscft/Tnaescomp 

1-115 

GATECRASHER 32 Amsofi 2-76 

GENESIS 65 CRL 2-70 

GEOFF CAPES STRONGMAN 85 Marlech 3- 

28 

GET DEXTER 94 PS&ERE 7-30 

GHOST'N'GOBLINS - Elite 10-17 

GHOSTBUSTERS GHOSTBUSTERS 57 

ActiviSHDn 1^102 

GHOULS 59 Micro Power 2-30 

GILLIGANS GOLD 71 Ocean 2-30 

GLADIATOR lODomartc 11-96 

GLASS 57 Quicfcsirva 6*22 

GOLDEN PATH 6 Amsofl 12-86 

GRAHAM GOQCH TEST CRICKET 

Ayd«ooefiK: Software 1 1 -26 

3D GRAND PRIX 86 Artisoft 2-20 

GRAND PRIX RALLY II 47Am»ft 1-28 

GREEN BERET 8f Imagine 10-22 

GREMLINS 77 Adventure irnernal^onal 1-B4 

GRUMPY GUMPHREY 90 Gremlin Graphics 

4>24 

GUNFRIGHT 33 Ultimate 9-32 

HACKER 84 Act i vision 2*21 

HANDICAP GOLF 38 CRL 1-43 

HARRIER ATTACK 39 AmTOtt-OtJfoll 1-118 

HARVEY HEADBANGER 93Fireb«rd 10-10 

HAUNTED HEDGES 47 Micro Mega/ AmsoH 

2-30 

HEAVY ON THE MAQ1K Gargoyle 9-38 

HELLICHOPPER 38 hrebtfd 11-27 

HERBERTS DUMMY RUN S3 Mifero-Gen 3* 

19 

HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER 9£J Vofle* 1-16 




HI RISE 89 BubtrieBu^^ 
HOBBI T 8 1 Melbourne House 1 1 -62 
HOLLOW 65 G/lsoft 6-81 
HUNCHBACK 45 Ocean/ Am soli 2-29 
HUNCHBACK II 69 Ocean 2-» 
HUNTER KILLER ££Amsoft 2-75 
HVPERSPORTS 30 Imagine S-23 

ICE STATION ZERO 8th £tey 3- f 00 
IMPOSSIBLE MtSStON 69 US Gold 1 2-81 
INTERNATIONAL KARATE 64 Endurance 
Games 12-14 
3D INVADERS fOAmuft 1-101 

JACK THE NIPPER 93 Gremlai Graphics 11* 

too 

JAMMIN' 68 Amaoft 2-29 

JET BOOT JACK 72 A/nwft 2-30 

JET SET WILLY 79 Software Pro^eda 1*100 

AMTI X Christmas Special 1 986 T 05 



JEWELS OF DARKNESS 95 R*in*>rdVLevel 9 

12-35 

JOHNNY REB 45 LolhLorion 2-75 

JUGGERNAUT 71 CRL 1-46 

JUMP JET 5 r Anirog 2-7* 

KAISER TOAfiotaaoft 3-78 

KANE 80 Mastertro^c 10-66 

KEY FACTOR £3 Amsoft 1-115 

KNIGHT GAMES TO English Software 1 1 -30 

KNIGHT LORE 91 Ultimate 1*102 

KNIGHT TV ME 93 MasTettromc 11 -IT 

KONG FU MASTER 71 US Gold 10-28 

LASER WARP J3 Amsoft 1*23 

LAST VS 60 Masterirorac 9-25 

LOCOMOTION 63 MasJertrontc 1-112 

LORDS OF MIDNIGHT 93 Beyond 2*64 

LORD OF THE RINGS 72 Melbourne House 

5-61 

LOST PHIRIOUS /^Vidrpis 7-56 

MACADAM BUMPER 73P&S 1-100 

M AH JONG 4 f LrffMlt 12-64 

MANDRAGORE 48 Jnfogrames 11 -Si 

MANfrC MfNER 7 1 Artisoft 1-117 

MARSPORT 94 GarQOyte Games 2-16 

MASTERCHESS 54 Amsoft 2-76 

MASTER OF THE LAMPS 54 Activist 1 -113 

MATCH DAY J ? Ocean 2-27 

MAX HEADROOM 55 Quick si I va ft- 27 

MATCH POINT 79 P&on 3*21 

MELTDOWN 54 Allegata 11-31 

V rR M A I D M ADN ESS 75 EtoClnc Dreams 1 2 - 

M 

MiLLJonAlRE 76 Incentive 1-1 12 

MINDER 36 DKl tonics 1-101 

MINDSHADOW 85 Adivision 3-100 

MISSION ELEVATOR 85 Micropool 11*20 

MISSION OMEGA 77 Mmd Games 12-76 

MOLECULE MAN 82 Mastertrorrtc 1&-68 

MONOPOLY 39 LetaufO GeciitJsAMgtfi 1 1 -» 

MONTY ON THE RUN 91 Gremlin Graphics 

MOON BUGGY 63 Anirog 1-100 

MOONCRESTA 89 Incentive 0-1 1 

MOVIE V B 20 

MR FREEZE 4J Firebird 2-30 

MR WONGS LOOPY LAUNDRY 54 Amsoft/ 

A*»c 1-118 

MUTANT MONTY 09 ArtiC/Amsofl 2-30 

MYRIODIN FLIGHT SIMULATION 56 Mynd 

din Software 2-27 

NEVER ENDING STORY 79 Ocean 2-02 

NEXUS -■'%L*jfusl2 13 

NICK FALDO PI-AYS THE OPEN A3 Mind 

Games 8-100 

NIGHT GUNNER 55 Digital Intefgratior 10*91 

NIGHTSHADE 91 Ultimate 4-16 

NOCTURNE 58 AJpha Omega 10-64 

NODES OF YESOD 90 Odm 10-92 




NOMAD 3? Ocean 7-16 
NONTERftAOUEOUS 81 Masteflroruc 1*24 
NORTH SEA BULLION 39 Kyma 2-09 
NUCLEAR DEFENCE J9 Amsoft 12-06 
NYTHYHEL 34 50/50 Club Software 11-03 

OBSIDiAN64Ai14c§-14 

OH MUMMY 29 Artisoft Gem 1-42 

ON THE RUN 89 Design Design 1 -106 

PACIFIC 62PSS/ERE 12-24 

PANZADROME 57 Anotasoft 7-24 

PAWS P0 Art>c 2-75 

PINGPONG 94 Imagine 5-34 

PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT 49Bmtama §-37 

POWERPUkY §4 Arcana 12-71 

1 06 AMT1X Christmw Special 1 986 



PLANETF ALL Infocom S-62 

PRICE OF MAGtH 86 Level 9 9-61 

PSYCHEDELIA 79UamiiSOft 1-10B 

PUNCHY 35 Amsoft/Mr Micro 1*118 

PY J AM ARAM A fif Amsoft/Mikro G^n 1-101 

QABBALAH J 5 Am^otl 11-96 
QOR 54 Maitdale 10-67 
OUACK A JACK 4« Amsoft 2-29 
QUAN TULLA 8th Day 3-100 

RADZONE 65 Mastertrorut 10-90 
RAID 75 US Gold 1-104 
RAMBO 73 Ocean 7*23 
RASPUTIN 72 Firebird 6-22 
REDCOATS 25 Lothlonen 2-41 






fH(M, Hill f 



m $ 



j a 

I 



REDHAWK 94 Melbourne Hqg» 8-65 

RED MOON 94 Level 9 1 -06 

ROBIN OF SHERLOCK Sf CRLDeita 4 9-62 

ROBIN OF SHERWOOD ?0 Adventure Inter- 

national 1 -90 

ROCKN'WRESTLE 50 Melbourne House 6 

32 

ROCKY HORROR SHOW 69 CRL 1-102 

ROLAND AHOY 39 AmsOft 1-27 

ROLAND GOES DIGGING 45 Amsofl 2-29 

ROLAND GOES SQUARE BASHING 21 

Amsoft 2-78 

ROLAND IN SPACE 41 AmsoWn0escon^> 1 - 

ROLAND IN TIME 7-2" Amwft 2*41 

ROLAND ON THE ROPES 43 AmsoMndflM 

seomp 1-112 

ROLAND ON THE RUN 19 Amsoft 2-75 

ROOM 10 43 CRL 11-95 

RUNES OF ZEN DOS 6 Dorcas 4-54 

RUNE STONE 91 Firebird 6-68 

SABOTEUR 77 Ouf&« 9-90 

SAI COMBAT 82 MOTomoft 10-21 

SAM FOX PLAYS STRIP POKER 68 Martech 

8-3© 

SAS RAID 82 CRL 10*62 

SATELLITE WARRIOR 53 Amsoft 2-109 

SEABASE DELTA 75 Firebird 9-60 

SCOUT STEPS OUT 7i Amsoft 2-25 

SCREWBALL 30 Blue Ribbon 5-19 

SEASTALKER Intocom 5-64 

SEAS OF BLOOD 57ArJventwe International 

4-56 

SHADOWF1RE 66 Beyond 10-16 

SHOGUN fi? Virgin* 28 

SHORTS FUSE 47 Firebird 2-T4 

SHUFFLE 43 AJpha 11*32 

SIR LANCELOT 79 Melbourne House 1*42 

SKYFOX S3 Anofasoft 5-26 

SLAPSHOT 68 Amrog 2-23 

SNODGITS 60 SparkTens 10-65 

SOCCER 86 30 ActiviaionAoi ic^r 1 1-98 

SOFTWARE STAR 52 Add*ciive Game* 1-44 

SORCERY a J Virgin 1-117 

SORCERY PI US < 'Virgin 1*32 

SOUL OF A HG&OT 77 Maslsftrontc 2-40 

SOULS OF DARKON 82 Task set 4-53 

SOUTHERN BELLE 32 Hewjon Consonants 

2-34 

SPACE HAWKS 46 Amsoft 1-116 

SPAN HERMAN 31 Amsoft 2-30 

SPEED KING 3} Mastertronic 12 23 

SPIKY HAROLD 80 Firebird 10-87 

SPECIAL OPERATIONS 49 Lothlorien 2-75 

SPELLBOUND 93 Mwtertronte 5-12 

SPINDIZZY 98 Act i vision 5-16 

SPITFIRE 40 85 Mirrorsori 4-42 

SPLAT 75 Incentive 2-T6 

SPLIT PERSONALITIES SSDoilWfc 12 82 

STAINLESS STEEL 70 Mikro-Gen 12-20 

STAR FIREBIRDS 32 Insighi 3-24 

STARION A? Melbourne Hou«e 1-20 




STAROUAKE 9 1 Bubble Bus 9-12 
STARSTRIK6 II 01 Firet«rd 12-63 
30 STARSTRIKE #7 Regime Sett war© 1*1 18 
STEVE DAVIS SNOOKER 76 COS Micro Sys- 
tems 1-115 

STORM 59 Mastenromc 11-18 
STRANGELOOP 90 Virgin 3-92 
STRIKE FORCE HARRIER 90 M.trorsoft 6-30 
SULTAN'S MAZE ?7 AmsGtt/Gwn 1-43 
SUPERNOVA CLASSIC INVADERS 15 
Gemini 11-57 

SUPER PIPELINE II aeAmsotLTmksel 1*101 
SUPER SAM 4 Budgie 2*42 
SURVIVOR 59 Amrog 2-29 
SWEEVO'S WORLD 94 Gargoyle Games 4-28 
SWORDS AND SORCERY 9PPSS 9-B6 

TANK BUSTERS §1 Design Design 1-112 
TECHNICIAN TED 85 Hewwn Consultants 1 - 

TEMPEST 92 Electnc Dreams 11-92 

TERRORMOLINOS 78 Melbourne House 3- 

97 

TEST MATCH CRICKET 56 CRL 1-29 

THEATRE EUROPE 34 PSS 5-46 

THING ON A SPRING .92 Gremlin Graphics 

7-34 

THINK ttAnoiaaoft 5-36 

THREE WEEKS IN PARADISE 91 Mihro Gen 

6-20 

THRUST MFirebud 12-24 

THUNDERBIRDS 6 7 Firebird 9-31 

3D TIME TRAX 19 Annog 2-76 

TIR NA NOG 92 Gargoyle Games 12-33 

TOADRUNNER 65 Arioia&oh 11-19 

TOMAHAWK 92 Digital imergrauon »-1* 

TRAFFIC 32 Artisoft 2-74 

TRASHMAN 15 Virgin 11*96 

TREASURE TUNNELS/EXPERIENCE 83The 

PtaamaTouchll-61 

TRIVIA 62 Anirog 2-74 

TTLR5Vonex4-20 

TUBARUBA AS Advance 5-16 

TURBO ESPRIT 74 Our&tt 1-21 

V2?Oceen10-27 

V AG AN ATTACK 13 Atlantis 1-99 

VOODOO RANGE ;0AntafuCl0-6? 

WAR ZONE 43 CCS 2-42 
WAR GAME 34 Relax 4-86 
WATERLOO 9?Lrthlon*n 6-79 
WAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST 86 Mel- 
bourne House 1-113 

WAY OF THE TIGER 9 1 Gremlin Graphics •- 
102 

WHO DARES WINS II 97 AftgalA S-20 
WILD BUNCH 52 Firebird 2-27 
WILLOW PATTERN 79 Fire&ird 2-71 
WINTER GAMES II E^ctnc Dreams 4-44 
WINTER GAMES 89 US Gold 9-30 
WIZARD S LAIR 54 Bubble Bus 2-24 
WORKING BACKWARDS Design Design 6- 
37 

WORLD CUP W Artie 1-26 
WORLD SERIES BASEBALL ;;■ imagine 2*44 
WORM IN PARADISE 91 Levei 9 3-98 
WRATH OF OLYMPUS 42 Alpha-Omega 10- 
64 

WRECKLESS ROGER 69 Biaby 6 24 
WRIGGLER 87 Roman dc Robot 4-34 

XANAGRAMS 17 Amsoft 2-76 

YIE AR KUNG FU 96 Imagine 3-62 

ZANIA 3 1 MynrJdtfi Software 6-26 
ZOIDS^3Martecn6-24 
ZORRO 59 US Gold 4-35 



It 



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\ »1 



4**€£lO. 






», 



« the name 



VMp rnr* St^xr SoccrTrs thrbrstc omsxjtn vxerr s*TmAAtor yrr Be Maratforta Of* semm 
Itm can cfrtrtfe past apponmu Otic* tecklr. rrtrti? crows, ftm MUrrrpE <*vmg header* &jt wnaf 
rrukn im game omuareing n «* own fiew & the control you can eneftfee o«r the frarii No ottier 
game alow you tn central the wrrvjth erf your sharp shooting and fra« phasing flee SLper Soccer dor* 
WhaT* mew. when tArig fr» kcks >reu can qiganlje Ehr whole iram wth tfw 
"M Beam pouttonaf play" fran^r 



amc 



Thiiti a 1*^2 player game and tfwtfi an optional SPECTRUM 

f«M*H»r ^aMcwiLjploBiepdratepiayerito jM M A jp 

parturiate r> a tournament <jui petim* > . ^p ^ ■ %M ^% 

So gel en the bai jra the game of rfie s*^soi ^* » ^ "^ 



tnagne Software |I984| Ud . 6 Cenral Snwt Maodhrae* hA2 SNS TWephone; 061-832 6633. Tele*: 669977 OCEAN G 



TOP TWENTY FOR JANOARY 

Hen we go *Q&in f the Top 20 as decided by AMTJX! readers. The 



Here we gc again, the Top 20 as decided by AMTJX? 
figure* in bracket* em test month"* position*. 







v 



it 



6(1) 
ELITE 

Firebird 



* 1 ( l 4 int v 





2f2^ 
GREEN 
BERET 



> 

•• 

4 



7(7) 
GET DEXTER 

PSS/ME 



12f/7? 
WINTER 
GAMES 

Epyt 



YOUR VOTE COULD WIN YOU £40 OF 

E very montn us generous types ^« r e 
rn oFw 

and hats to lovo &nti 

who wins rne £40 
Rafebage of Dei EX7 Of 

Grahan 
SYO Roger PtryaH vt&scnde" Buc* 






16 (20)^ 
■ GdBUHS 

00 



17 (l« 

SORCERY 

PLUS 

AlTWOtl 




4(3) 
BATMAN 

Oe*aiT 



5(10} 
MCK THE 



Al 



s 
- fc 



COMMANDO' 



% *. 

H 



V 



9|«; 

KNIGHT 
TYME 

Muttflronit Added 



THRUST 



Mi 




13 H 
B0HBJ*» 



-^ 



1« (20) 
WAY OF THE ft 
EXPLODING 

FIST 



15 ^ 
HARVEY 

HEAD- 
BANGER 



18 W 
TRIVIAL 
PURSUIJ 

Dofiw> 



19?-; 

BRUCE CEE 

USGtfdJ 



.-. \ 



20 (10) 
SPELL 
BOUND 

NUstcrtfWW UttA 



TOP TWENTY TWITTERS a * w1 a 9f in ' Cw,n, o ™p*«o*d ■ 

imcmw nuri t'C'tilrlC Lire? •£■ firs 5 

A *ery t>m Tl xip^s v There is one new entry thrs month, DomanV i/Ptmrf , und 

month, we dt j don't agre* -fitnes. Bri/G? t« and Bombfack. 

what democracy to ett about — paqpw> arguing, gfrsaqrperi g atid to 1 



jagrper g af nj 1 
re to be knocked off 



amo^jst themsei ■ v ttifl - Keep your fb:-' - r r ■ Mrs very new teguftaf Saffrons Scoreboard feature 6o 

noticed some people have been skippsrg pas. now tr-. 
did noc take bong for that o4d * 



mast important to frii »n your scores, rf you 

egut 

rise 



]pt j f i Li i i ■■* . 



**\\i^> 



^*^r f^ 










^7 



L A± 






m Finlan of South Yardtey, Birr- tfh&EQ and Will South 

F#wir<t Burrlr«v BB r 

^^Hkp6frtton$ secret* y at amTV* 

aid tN. s a good idea it everyone could 
i Jon 3 s^e their name when th* Q coupe 



rU* £i 



AMT1X! READERS TOP TWENTY CHART 
VOTING FORM 

I Name 



Address 



*! 



Postcode 



The Wor ids Ftve Hippest games in order of prefer &nc« are; 

TTTLE 

1 



My machine is a 4G-W664 /61 28/8256 {delete as applteablaUf I 
am e winner the game I would like- it: 



?nd youf coupon to: 



AMTIX! TOP TWEHTY. PO BOX 10. LUDLOW. 
SHROPSHIRE. ST8 1DB 



I 



I 

I 
I 
I 
I 



J 



SAFFRON'S 

CHRISTMAS 

SCOREBOARD 

YulatkSa Ofa*tfcnga my aamtng ga*tron*ughtfi - so you want 1o 
know who are the top gamaapuryara In the country ttiia CMat- 
maaT Will cMt your ayaa be lo w and aee it your nam* tp than, 



BATMAN {Ocean} 

13.660 Ian Longion. Eastwood 

S ,264 L wgi AnTcMiionf. London 

; 908 Lafchveer Sahota. Wol- 

v*3fft?irrtpt0n 

BOUNDER {Gr amtln Graphic** 
802.220 Luigt AntrxiKXti, London 
380 Steven Pi amer Ayfeabury 
540 Rtehard Eddy. AMTij(< 
Toweri 



CAU I DRON II (Palace) 
Competed Lee Martin, 



Chyr- 



24.700 DantoJ Webster, Sue- 

COMMANDO ICflMl 

128.080 M.chJH Slifllng, Watt 

ELITE (Ftretornfl 

655.369.999 Tony Ctaffce. Alt* 

ToaMta 

J 9 ,092 . 1 92 Credits Andfw 

Mpounr 

449 CtecMa Ewan M*ni, 
HarnMon 

FIFTH AXJS lLork:l#l*J 

Ane Gikmartkn, Maiarude 
86% SaMron Ttevastas, a,*.' 
To w e r a 

GET DEXTER (PSS/ERE1 
248,500 Lufcgi Antonionl. London 
144,400 James Chan. Rod»ey 
500 James Go^t, Newcastle 

GHOST BUS TERS (Actlvtaton) 
Completed Andre Mieabaf, Malta 

GHOSTS AND OOBUNS (Elite* 
288.4M Paui Jolley* Wigan 
212,400 Brad Nowarlh. Saitford 
104,800 Simon Flnchar. Eveaham 

QflSN BE RET (Imagine} 
i ,164,680 Paul Jolleyt, Wtgan 
164,580 David 

Edwards .Stockton -On -Toe* 
158,160 Daman Hflt. South Nor- 
matron 

JACK THE NIPPER (Gremlin 

f|faphff#[ 

100% Brian Stack, Ealing 

100% MichatM Stirling. West Ferry 

92% Lu^i An1ontorH ft London 

KNIGHT TYME (fteaterfrontcl 
100% Jeremy Neig.. Hove 
100% Daniel Webber. Buddn- 



rtham 

100% Peter While. ShaffMd 

K U N G F U M A3TE R {US Gold) 

166.900 Sartraz Afzal. Ooonfloof 

142,300 Jonethon Ao^a Soulti 

Norwood 

104,000 Paul Joitoy* Wlgan 



MATCH DAY [Ocean > 
56 — 1 Nathan HavHi Kawaad 
OAf^aMicaJW Walta 



SORCERY {Ameoft) 

100% Completed. Tony Oarfta, 

AMTTXl Towers 

106,447 DmM Rowland, Kiimer- 

noc* 

101 .2 1 2 Chris Davm, Sherwood 



Completed Andrew Foner. 

wrxdaie 

Completed Paul Garrard. Haaoly 

Down 

Complied Dental Webster. Buc- 



8WWCMZZY lEJactric Draamii) 

10ft Jawola Andra Paf|a fl Bftstoi 

396.050 Maunco Bownaaa. Mar- 

aeyaiida 

243,248 Antony Pf>ww. Sognor 

STARQUAKE (Bubbla Bua) 
90% OMtay. Warwick 

THRUST (Flrafclrd) 

16J&0 Dartwsl Webstar BuOkun- 

firiam 

TOMAHAWK (Digital Integra- 
Hon) DbMS Hadgaa, upchtMh 

TURBO ESPRIT fOuraiQ 
35,000 David G*bbon, County 
Durham 



WAV OF THE EXPLODING FIST 
(Malbourna Houmj 

,0,600 E amor m Berdford. Ros 



WHO DARES WINS It (Aligata) 
99Bb60 SotidH Akiam. RodhdaJa 
?00 Mark Lloyd. Co Kridara 
545,680 Jite Apt^d. Wamtolay 

Y1E AR KUNQ FU (Imaglra) 

02,520.630 Luigi Antonioni, tort- 

don 

T , 1 52,350 Jije Aptad. Wantriay 

1 ,03 1 BOG ivhchaa* Man, O^u rru>ot 



ffa tfw and of ttw aln>w for the Chnatmn apaotei — Ifa lima 
for ya to 90 . Wa hope wa* va bf ought you LauQttt*r and Joyl So 
until wa imat again tNa lima naxt yaar it* a gocidbya. gqodbya, 
. Scoraa 00 thm board win ba tiara na&f monlfi with Ilia 
So poat If lain off Una vary miaiuta to. 
SCOREBOARD. PO Don 10, Ludlow, Shropahlra. 
SYS 1 DB. U mil naict yaar I hopa you all ha vm an a J t tram ai y rnaga 
Ctuittmaft and a mixloua N*w Yaar. 



goodbya. Scoraa on tha 
llrat 1 1 wl 1 a coraca of 87. 
SAJTBOW'S SCORE BO 




'f&wsK/s 




etailers 



I ondon/Soulh East 



iad. Woffthing L Sob 



ji Kuan* 

[ BN1I 5NB 

MS SCA 

Ul toy, U nit B. White Lion UaLk. 
Oi itfdte td, Softer- MS SCA 

2m Sitcatrkld Roau . Krniiir*. 
a It A * *BY MS SCA 



4PK 



icpn, High Wycombe 



. Buck* HP) -I 
MS SA 



Software Flu*. Liberty Shopping Mall. 
E-ul Sq BauldiHi, Eu#t. 336 Chariwil 
Square Souiherul, ELtiti; 72 Norch 
v. Romford. But*; 22 Si Matthew* 
v Iptwkb, Suffolk, Boulevard*. Mir 
pur Centre, Bedford Bed*, 49 H^h 
Kwt,CmingrHni. Kent 5 SCA 



Software Cay, 4? Owip Street . Hew- 
bwy, Berk* ttG 14 fBX S SCA 

Sloufh Computer*, 245 Hie* Stnet + 
Skiuaji Berk* SI 1 IBM *2f5»*. 

HS SCA 

tectum Court Road. Loudon VUR 
« AF « 01 -*W 1156 MS SCA 

Sin SyMem* Lid. £ Eve Road . Wofcin*. 
Surrey GL'2 1 4JT MS S 

Reader* Dram. M*ki HarTtngton Rend 
Vic*i fdtnarn, Mtddi »m*UJ fiTW- 

KS SC 

Bur? Paul. Leather Lane Musk Shop, 
67 Leather Lane. London EC 1 * OV 
*Ml21i\ ft SCA 



Software, Unit 51. In-Shop*. 
iMt Road. WHhferone, Mkkttejea 

HS SCA 

The Macro Workshop I. 
Approach bpioni, Surrey KTN HliS 
• Tri EptmltttJ KS SCA 

Hat tow timiputer (tnitc It Staple 
Tp.ttokitt.Fiaci.rMIRTLX. 

MS SCA 

? Wtttiof Street, 

UftbeidiBe. Middx UB8 I Aft HS SCA 

Game* Wncil I2tf Kmc fcmt, Mam 
wrunnh. London W^iKi ■ 01 74 1 
ajff ItS SCA 

Ga!kr\ Software, Hi door. 140 Tfeti 

Armialc Centre, Wanutwonh I oiuJun 

m . - MS SCA 

M D Cooper, Computer Jksliware and 
tteuri Saati.oJHffh Srrf^l. Krmpl.n 
Red* ftOCMftUFI? MS SCA 

Caayve* Software, Harmer Arcade, 
Roman Road, London El HS SCA 

Canve* Software . Cwivey Mar kci , 1 \\jth 
Hrrert ranmhlamLlwm HS SCA 

Alan Bedding Photography ;So1t ware. 
?7 Miir End Road. Calchriirr. fctaei 
» _ . -. HS SC 

Bracknell Cocnpuiefm. 44 The Broad- 

m. BtackncJt Berks RG12 

HS SCA 

m Computta*. 6 Siaiiun Road, 
Wot Wtckham. Kent It ft I -777 31 &n 

m sca 

Dbcount Software, 120 Lord Street. 
Hoddrtdon P H*rt%l-M! *NP HS SCA 

tow Sak* Ltd, 19 The Broadway. The 
Bowne. Soadutt. London NM 901- 

HS SC 

VmHfl Game* Centre, 100 Qtiord 
Sire*!. London WIN 9FB * 01*17 

mi 

at GamciCenlte, 157-IM Western 
Road, Bnahton BN1 2BB » U273. 
725JB 

V n (fin Game* t enlre . c/o Burtons, 1 4o- 
l44HtfhSt Brornk> Kern * 4606*95 



Virpn Game* i eirtte , Top Man , t Hford 
C ireui. IT: Oifotil Slieet, London Wj 
• Ul -927 7826 



Nturlh WV^I 



Me* jri |.leciTonk9. 83 Penny Meadow, 
Ashion undef Lyne , 1 jnci 1^1-1 ft» 
MM HS SCA 

P V. Mifrocomputrrs, KM Abhcv 
StrecL Acorn|tcNi B l*ft» MS SCA 

McSoft Unit 4ft, Moof|atc Indoor Mar- 
ket, Moorijic. Ormiairi, Lincaa-hiic 

HS SCA 



Macfa It 
t h Prctton 



IjAjimv Si fjcoaae'i F 



Marthueouch Si reel. 
tjociOtJOHA «i*r I 



SCA 

Mem. m Euuoe. Road, 
HS SCA 

Coffnutet World (UK) Lid, 2CW tlior 
kwCftd Road, Bolion, Laoca BLI SSO 

HS SCA 

Boo« Baraaana. II St Andrew i Road 
SoMll. Kt Ahnci. LaJKl. S SCA 

A A Di*®oufll Sofrware, 112 

Aihtoa-u-Lyne^ 

\lb B S 

Bit Bvic Cofflputen, 141 Wilton Si reel, 
NmthwKh. OicihiiT CW9 5N^J HS 

SCA 

Citv SiVftwarE, Wv Linw Street, liver- 
potlll 1 UN S SCA 

Compuic* Game* Shop, 3 Royal Oak 
liuilJini^. Wairrkm Road. BfacipcMifi 
> S 4 tAQ « (ttS3 48T3&. S SCA 

Tbe Uiikwood* Dr|aftaatKin ok. 
i ti u 1 1 h Si reel . Lnrrpool 1.711 1 AU (usd 
•elected i«iw«) HS SCA 

II Sl B Software. Uml 19!. Upper 
kitchdalc MMikec, Armlak Centre, 
MjiKh«lerM4 2l-:n S SCA 

H a\ DSttwei. 133* AthUwOklRoad, 
Mieticr (loenUiii*, M«Exhr«ler MM 
Ufi S SCA 

II W Liuton. 236 Smithdown Road. 
intio] I LJ 5AH *(I5I 7JJ 113S 

ft &CA 



South Sitiilh Wh 



South 
S SCA 



fr aVfuod ftrM < havd, 

H>ZAH SSC 



KHth-Kuu, 77 Eiaat Street 
iHpiaav 

i. umpatcitiaae Co r 21 Market Av<, 

I cntre. Plymouth PL I IPC* «fF752 

HS SCA 

Gateway Buuneai Syilenti Lid. A Su 
tion Road. New Milton, HanU llli:^ 
6JU HS SCA 

itd't Software at Conham T> I V 
! h-j preca n et, Conyhan, Wthi 
SNns>AS «Q24V7i2f>^> HS SCA 

Miwiafe, S 

Mancif Park Hruerpmea, <0 Melklock 
A^eny^.Doieneater, DotKi MS SCA 

III < omputcn h 12 Alfred Street, 
Weataava-Mare, A™ *U9344]<j 

HS SCA 

Kitireeh ConiiHiten. St Tudy. b^xlmin. 
C'turn waU PI JU JNH MS SCA 

Judya Recwrdi * Compotcr s<iiEiA.iir 
Unll 29. ££itraouth ImkHK Market 
Famouth, Devon Vr^mouth 264593 

SSCA 

F- 4 1. Stilt OpavpaSm S Si George* 
Aresdc. Falnvtuth, Cornwall HS SCA 

Garnn In*:, ^ frank Ion Gale.. 
Pl}nioulJi,l>£\onJ*L1 K>A ft SCA 

The Kow Box,47SidwellSirect.Ej[etri r 

• 4i HS SCA 

Computer Server i, 9 The Green p Credi- 

l.fi IWrfiEXITiLH S SC 

Virgin GuKi Centre, IW Men-hani 
Street, Briitol^ Ml I MnattfTII 

Vifgiri Games CeiMfe. 101-105 Armada 
WayTn jrmo*jio a? m* 23&2« 1 7 



Mi-lli > 



Soft Srw>! Ltd. ^ Ge«»rie Street. U*n 

r«urv,6ionoxi6^vr m(rp^6tm\ 

MS SCA 

1 1 < mewtt Computer* Ltd , 1 7 Union St . 

MS SCA 



Ful hitwaid. 29 South Street, Wmt 
vVafwiclLfbire MS SCA 

Kasi rhfamU L >& Parnw* Strati, Ban 
rwy,f>»on HS SCA 

i i-mcMjtaCcrna, 1 7 CamplKll Streei. 
tWlp, HS SCA 

D J S MKtotfMaiKJrderJ^HifhSl. 
Harnnftofi, Nofihawia NN69M 

HS S 

Gordon Harwood Computerv, e^-t 
I hj-h Street. AITrclon. Derby OE5 7DP 

MS SCA 

haajajMn MtHnc Cottipuier Centre, 
5Ka WcmnfTiornui^ Rd. Northampton 

Hie Software Ccenrv; 1 Lock I Jo Yard. 

MS SCA 

Afkn Jamo. Computer*, HVl Stratford 
Road, Sparkhilt, Birmit#iuin KM 
4I>A «uQt-77g53 MS SCA 

Coraluia, 2fM High St. Dudky, 
Midland* I>Y1 IOO MS SCA 

Bull Rhta Computer* Lid, I Waicri.- 
Terrace, WndgiHifTh. Shruoihire W\ In 

HS SCA 

KAB Computer Software, 6 Waterloo 
Road, Hincklri. I i HS SCA 

Computer Market, 2? Gooaefale , Noe 
rhuhaai •566454 HS SCA 

H<> m- wit Comnutcf* tad . 1 7 Unaod Si t 
ll L 'r L -fMrdHKl2BT MS SCA 

Iniotu, i IfejtfKuaf Street. Hockky. 
^h^mNtil >AJ- HS SCA 

1 4 injc Flaion S-^l».nt tenlre, *Jl < ol 

lete Strecl l.onu I Hon Nollineh.nh 

4QE HS SCA 

»wai«. 5 Si Peief i Unc. Ixict 
Abo at Ventuie Knuae, 7 Letter r Ril 
lou|£hoot»ujth.Bndf-i>ra*. |9l/|«* 
luria Centre . I jmct Parliament St. Not- 
rm^i^m HS SCA 

Virgin Gnmeai Centre. *W Corporation 
- ilirmingh4m»4riSX *021 



I K Software Eiichan^ %Elo 

lunmellGreaveShelfKli' 

S SC 

.■.me iheit 239 H^KirU . Road. 
Hull.H HombcniJ \H 

S SCA 

Tomorrow'* WoekJ. 15 PatafDn Street* 
Hull, N HumherMdc KU1 WA. 

MS SCA 

rhanl I lintic Cumpoier Centre, Royal 
Yard, Market Place. Think. N 
YnrL*hire TO7 tHQ. »OB45 15332 

HS SCA 

in 7 J Iciirxmic*. 6M Antaby llish 
Rd.lfuILN HuinticHide HU36UZ » 
IUK2 5086S7 M SC 

A i A C Stobtoi l< ompulei Dept j. MW 
* > Upper Preciml. Blayrlon-on- I 
Tvnc A Weal Nb:i SBT/ttOVMUtlO? 
MS SCA 

Stockton Software Ltd. 14 W«i Row. 
Stockton on Tee*. Cleveland \KlH 
HI I »OM3ft061«« HS SCA 

SMaofl , 2c Wain m R^d . Thurtic . I k at 
eaatt*. ^ Yoraa r>MH 4HW * <utn 

S SCA 

Pi A K Ekctrornci, 1Z2 York Road, 
Matltif nnl n>nkam( HS SCA 

Microiriin, 9 Ciilly^ate. Ponlerracl, W 
Yorkshire MS SCA 

MitTrrfi*ie Soliwarc Shop. 16 
Arcade . I j^d* LSI fiBH, and iVa Lower 

^.■ficiipsjit . WaktfHeEd. w Yorta 

S SCA 

Mart lift Compute ni k 45 SiiMkUm H 
Sunderland SRI 3NR * Sundc 
71973 H9 SCA 

Daind I V*dlvn 24 tTJIliiSm i lo*e, 
Greai Lumley, Chewier k Strcci, Co 
Durham S S 

Ken Green (New* 4 Computer 
Stifrw*«). 16 Fowler Si, S«iuth Shicl.fc-. 
Tytic&Weaj HS SCA 

Datamate Lid, 2 Pelawal Ten Btyth, 
S^rlhumherEand NB24 IDL * 365M6 
HS SCA 



READER 

INFORMATION 
SERVICE 

DIRECTORY 



H*r Svcomcf 



So**m 
B 

lUTWlPBd 

vonwnodoni 

aV^eaw 



( ompvtei 5hop f 7 Kiph Krian r 
lUuun Suuare. Newcaiiic upun Tra 
NEl 7XG » W! HlttGO MS SCA 

Tbe ConaputeT S3*r.*p. 224 lli^h Street. 
Northallerton, N Vorktl 

HS SCA 

rnputtr Mh*f* 151 
I inchiirpc R<kad MidCi 
Cleveland TSU AG HS SCA 



Virion Game* Centre, H ^.^ 

latc.LawbLSIhBK f? 

Topaofi. Compu 1 

HamMetonian Yard. v. vkton-iw "I ce*. 

Clewknd HS SCA 



l-.i^t Viiitlta 



Syjrvuiv Micro Syttcmv 
Streci, Sodhury, Sawtotk 



HS SA 

Loffc Sale* L!d n Mldgatc, Peler 
hotouaJi PEI tTO *OT31«aWr> 

HS SCA 
Micro Phone. 14 Pli^nehl Ptaee. S*.^r 
fham, Norfolk, and AMiw Kurnnhmt 
< enlre, ftmhd* Rd. Pakcah^in 
'Ik HS SCA 

VfJktaf Computers. Ardne* H 
ch, Norfolk HS SCA 



CtmelDtSpllwair.Cae Ymmori. Caer- 
oarrtm + Gwyoedd LU5 2LR. S S 

Cwmbran Compute f c * v«i 

oi.it ■aajajaai, <hwl 

MS SCA 



K M r-iirtnrcHer. Sound* Gocd, 1 
Miodkton Street, Llauanndud \s 
Powv § SCA 

I.C.G Siifiw»re. 25 Tbe Courtyard, 

Ri^rrude Market r Have: 

Dyie4 » ftaJ7 2M3 MS SCA 

Merthyr Cnrnpulcr Centre, 110 H^h 
Street. MerlhvT Tydfil, Mid Gljrncitgan 
*0tiat$H MS SCA 



Jam- ■"' Hnd^ee Sttwal. |>un 

lermhne I S SCA 

The Computer Depot, 205 Buchanan 
Street, tiia%Ku* Ol 21/ W in 

HS SCA 



Cikinpuler t erilrc. S Moll* 
market Cloic. Invrmeat IV I IHT W 
BOB HS SCA 

ih. hAorefltaax^ I Dawkaviuai Vtoad 
Putxk, GuufowGll r>AN «m 
«1U MS SC 

MoWt Mknt (Marketin|| lid I Eaal 
Back Street, Bt*oopaiiU. Elfin- Moray 

Soft Centre. 2 Bruntiftrid Place, 4 -in 
bavgkl HIB4HN ft SCA 

Soltware i omieclioA, Afryk Ccftlrc 
MaTkcl. Ar|T*-te tenlre Glaapiw Ol 
IAI S SCA 

Viea, Independent Cotooutcr Supp4ke%, 
3L^^ *outri Streel, petth PH2 RPD 
If'-utJdTtH. KS SCA 

Virgin Garnet C cm re , 1 72 Union Sirrei , 
AbtidecaABItUT »02J464 

Virpn Game* Cwftj. 2K u IMop 
Sired. Glaj|oW Gl X>X * (Ml 2d 



I lil^lirl 



hi ^ i 



net. ciareaav 

lare * 0*5/ 

S SCA 



Jarryn Re 

Huildrag, 6 Queen Street, &clf»L N 

Ireland Hft SCA 



Vr>r»o<t 



Computer StudHi. KoaancfCe^ Vtni< 
latltJOOBeofrad Yun^luvu S SCA 



MTIX! USERj 




Welcome again to the page that refreshes the parts of 
user clubs other magazines can't seem to reach. First 
of All cmn I be one of the first to wish you all a Merry 
Christmas and a Prosperous New Year (it saves having 
to send cards!) As I have said in the past the user club 
page is here to offer advice and help to newly formed* 
established, or planned organisations, and allows 
clubs to generally sound off about anything and every- 
thing. 

AMTIX! wants to hear from user clubs the length and 
breadth of Britain. Indeed we welcome correspon- 
dence from organisations abroad as well. All you have 
to do is write a brief outline of your club's history and 
post the details to me. If you have any black and white 
pictures taken during a club meeting why not send 
them in. H they are good enough we will publish them. 
Got the. idea? Good, then why are you waiting? Send 
in your articles and black and white pictures of club 
members, gatherings, etc, to me right now. The 
add r ess p as always* is Malcolm Harding, AMTtX! User 
Club Page, PO Box 10, LUDLOW, Shropshire SY8 1DB. 

This issue sees the continuation of the regular user 
club directory. If you want to be included in this free 
service send in details post haste. Once again I am 
publishing more pen pal listings but there is always 
room for lots more so write in if you are interested. 



By Malcolm Harding 



NEWS FROM 
SOLENT 
AMSTRAD CLUB 



i know hxa feci thai there are more 
than t tew people out there who 
tend to think the User Club feature 
« a waste of time. I'm a greai 
b eli ev er in free expression bat for 
once I intend to gloat, thanks to a 
letter from SMI Kent, (Mrw of 
the Soteni Amsttad Club, way 
down sooth m Southampton 

in rt he Informs rne the publicity 
grven to the ebb in issue 11 
resumed m hts telephone ringing all 
noyra and indeed their ne*i meet- 
ing, m October, was pocked solid 
with tots of new faces. Con- 



sequently fui membership has 
shot up lo 33 with several more 
people senousiy interested in join - 
*>gshority. 

Wl also informed me they were 
hoping to have hands on h e«peri- 
enc* with the PC 151 2, thanks to a 
local supplier from Shirley. Chsp- 
Bits, offering the loan of one. The 
club now has its catalogue of Pub - 
be Domain Software on d4k end 
are in the process of ordering ditfe- 
rem volumes which should be of 
interest to members. Any member 
wanting to see a specific volume 
can always ask the dub librarian 
10 purchase rt for a fee of Cl 50, 
this cost being a fee to the Public 
Domain User group and a small 
charge for the time taken for trans- 
tarring the volumes to 3 inch disks, 
tie software itsetf being free of 
charge. 




Even though the dubs mem- 
bership has increased substan- 
tially Bill would welcome anyone 
else interested m pining aji they 
have lo do ts ring him on South 
ampton 5580 75 lor further delate. 

IK CMI USERS GROUP 

The CP/M Users Group (UK) pro- 
duces a number of exceptant jour- 
nals each year , and has a massive 
library of software which has been 
un -oopyrtghted by its authors, that 
hs put m the "Public Domain*. The 
Users Group will send you one vol- 
ume for a E2 copying charge The 
library includes BASIC, Pascal and 
C compilers, and Wordstar- type 
text edttors. For more detalis write 
to:- 

Diane Fordred. 72 Mill Road, 
Hawley, Dwtfort, Kent, DA2 
7RZ. 

COHTACT CALLING 

Conrad Hart r the editor of Contact 
magazine, which he helps pro- 
duce from Room 14 K 48 Dover 



PEN PALS 

WANTED 



Mdn and tvi rtHtoii want pan pita ivhovf 
avnpt^ar ntinetd nAftfng tni toSDvW^Q ■ 

Martin Faajan of tO Woodford Amu. 
Monenry floedL Oonda«a\ Ooam tt. Efrt r 
wariftlG haw (r-jin Mtf oftw Atnalvad ovinare 
■f^raltd In iworjp*ffl earraav, ptAaa a*xj 
ywwri ■riuiiHUki'i Ma la sfl y+m dd and 

David aWaeaar erf H*haaci T vbonon. 

hear from anyona #*h * Otc Wl» 4 and owm 

■ c&csias 

Tony Oattom af 1 » Cwntron EMU, 
H * h,n *' CuUpS, Em, tfhowrta to hHfrorn 
anyona anyahara faa fflfcaraata M VwUf 
QVfNi And proy arnra* >ij In baac 

Otvio Surton. «e*d ts, 01 Cmiihwm 
Houw,WNKMAiCJSrJ™i,Ot*Dfdi 
WM tat i feai, Karri 01* l DO. -**3 ** to r 



It, ol !& JdTn 



F W 2 KLT woJd Is* 1 F t antri pun P* wiv 
can wnta tingaan 

■*J S«aS *0* cl lfl ^ ■* ]? MHTl floa*. 
NundW>f Spaiby. Limit PE2.1 4L5. vruild KM 
to haw from boy* or prti of hn «gt wng «#n 
anAnwavL 

Ew in Mumy, «0KI 16 of Ifll C^ 
p«hmo^. OtendiAurt, DMHh 3^. Era OMH« 

m to 




1 «MK agfld b ft w^ wi 14 yam and Tl 
1 rti otwi* * OPC464 «ndnMii 




toMQp 



■cod IS, ofPnoryC 



iCutfa 



so 



■Otd I6 r O* W ffiJiWjDQOl 
Rcwd Knypnfay , Biddu^ , 5ior» dn tmc 

■nd 1^30 o*i dl# Antdbnd 1 

tioritflrtthinim 

iiDUwionflDadLl 

ow™ 1 CPC4A4 wfth gr**n 1 

■ownoltoitwm HtwurttiPiw 

ttrti oe*d Dotwwn 14 ond Ifl 

(M«j Kmodom, Ht iAN UK ft*to Dht 

from ony law ok* n Mhfcfeobor omqti 

Simon ft*W *««0 14. df : RooiriWld 

«0Udlk4toripir*0f*GtfirCPC&17*e 



roi?VmnhjlC^i*.OffF* 
nh# Qm, L^«fp«Mri US 9LB IM envno ■ 4«4 
micro Hm*m9a*wmjmir*}wc*mmtnm 
and » mtaraoiod * r^^ig d*m w«i H» 
«nd ptfwa andaaw rm^afwig mm 

•eWi eofd agad 14 of 14 RyM 
r^lJdngtan, Cumfin* C«« 3^f, a 14 
M«ndOwn»«CPC4t76 Hawnadaa* 
so naar hum anyona 

Aiafjuinj of 3Q ^ai>vaai ^iwiax Arfmki 
Duban T3. Eirt tefgot Id nAAlajWWi 
n* aavm pen pea VGifli anwrihe^a, oama a 
CPC46i and ta rtamHad in proo/tfitrning 
and pia^ng gamaa ►% mUti *a« m* cAanb# 

lOWVDD 

47MS 



_ *««■ at 4 Trwurwj/p* 
And, $gtton^i>- Saa. Lmca Ln 12 2tT. wxiM 
Iki to naar trwn anyona — torn pynJti la 





oamat an 

(nam la a mar nM m L 

■eairaMl Maaam, agad \£ 4 Camdan 
^aat. iM a Ho n Lanc # tf*t CW OBL. oaaaj en 
Ammrao GP04ft4 ond wnidiin haar from 
any tx?y t¥ 0*1 

Ntar Ctwong. nad 1 5. of -Naartmanr HLK 
2i*. nng Wc, wtfl Avanu. 4 na-ji 1 . S-^ga 
pm 2dfie. hi tmaraalad m g i titf ■ m i Mitf . 
nwircMTiQ oamaa aj 
oarfaav «• Wtm b«h 



■oadi4or»! 
«je rx,j»i_ 

rjwnoni TfaY|f can 
ba any afjl. and- N'lliii any country jh long aa 
nay wraa n ingaaM Ht **y* n« haa loadi of 
gaffia* to twop , and loada of mapa to gh«* 
aw ay ^Ma a aw ham ftw edvanjynn tm hei ami- 
Ian twnaatf a40) Iha Okal- 



■rtywffiarBf 
Jon TW 



T«<a* agad 1$. ol W Karwngiofi 

i, TTiomton Haaflt, SfLrrav CR4 aBr , n 



tfiaapaaiad an t wopotrvi lapa garnaa Ha wtti^M 
IMPtd to W*0p InjspnfiaBPon and idaaa 



AaMay frttar-Carima agad 16, of t 
■XHayHtfDOM. Kaigftl^riabv.HafttMH 

to l^aW fttVn D#BF AffBjtPBd owv 



pwMii rao* Two 

T aitjoftsn, hiayotena, A^aNrv KA5 5NT aid 

wOiJd *** to vwop gamoa and t«a 

Andnaw Uwfen aojHtlV d 3 Bncavway 
Eaat P*mm Maatar ^TfaKham Chayd Ul.i 
MB, aoJd 4a« to -ra* to anyona of a avniar 
ag* |*al or mmui ona yaw) aflw w« iha 
LWIadlOngdOmof abroad H# « traaraaaad ai 
taw in g to felt frrooa and wg^ aa j ooma 
Gonaappndanoa fcun 1 anyona propjcaatli m ffai 
"irrj Hi haa i CPC4*4 and DQ and 4M« moK 
lypaa 0* gatnoa 

ftnaja Trtgo Vaaeajaa, agad 1 * 0«n« 4 
CPMia, and fcv*»«t Hm QamtSM Ft an 
*iil-40,iadG|jitiqn 1 Pdrti4>a1 Ntaayttfrn 
■ Mifo fdpoort *w ina Amafrad r h« ccH^rtry 
and ha wot** iha to w?«a to anyona any- 



4^^l^4aa ikji^yaa-H-^ — ■ j ■ ™ ^ « 

naavin maaan agaa i-j, pw owi a 
CPQ *y.a^a^atg ^ ^^r>^ p m . 
ton Woi rtpd'iip i^pjjiui 1 . WaM Wadawda 1 
™- Ma> wanlv lo hav bluh 014 ot DOyi I 
13 to 14 

An > ad Muqhaa. agad ifl, of 3 * Qmfayougn 
Fkwd, rhepmabr. Caywatond TS*7 ME, wand 
to raaw hom cfw ownan) pi CPC*6-l 



■ agad !». ol TOft 
ton. ftftraay, tinofd Tfl IVX. owra a 
GPC4W and woiad Iha to haar awn anyona 



F^alry M 
OTOtB47 



bul 



pi «i 
WJE, tofgai to >«*jd p la p ■wrajma 



Road, Wansteed F London E12 
SEA, has written to me again with 
more information about his Orgeru- 
sal ran. 

Apparently he has had lo 
increase the membership lee 10 
£3- For this sum you will receive 
regular copies of the magazine . a 
free blank cassette, poster* and 
demo programs. Sounds good 
value. Anyone interested should 
write drect to Conrad, 

AUSUCUIiFORBRUM 

I have received a letter from John 
B Woods of 54 Locfcwood Road, 
hiorthfield. Blrmmgn,Tjn B3I \QD 



who informs rne he is m the pro- 
c«ssottonrungaUserClubtor&r^ 
mlngham Anyone tnterested 
should drop him a line. John says 
he hopes to organise- rt so mem- 
bers have accees toe local univer- 
sity which uses 6128s If you are 
interested drop him a line. 



USER OI» HIFOMAAnOH 

F maPry I haw received a tetter from 
K Jackson of 24 Borre* Avenue, 
Anmtstord, Cfemfeigfori NE23 
7QX, who waniSs to |oin a user 
ciuto bul does not know of any. 
Wall K Jackson rf you road on you 
will fmd a mega list of user clubs. 
Just take your pick! 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 9B6 1 1 1 



My friend Jeffrey Green for Ativan - 
lags teis me the club is pleased to 
announce a collection of four cias- 
adventur* games from 
NEMBMS on one d&k, specialty 
adapted Ice the PCW cornpuler. 
The lour game* are — TH£ FRML 
Of ARNOLD BLACKWOOD. 
ARNOLD GOES TO SOME- 
WHERE ELSE. THE WISE AND 
FOOL Of AfiNOLD 

BLACKW0OQ. and BRAWN 
FREE Thedisfe also includes Minis 
and Tip* and, rfyouneed it Cheat 
Sheets' on each game. The price 
is H5.95. The disk described 
above can also be supplied lor 
CPC computers at a price of 
C!3,95. 

Also available from Mr Groan is 
ADVANTAGE C, a professional 
product for PCW and expanded 
CPC computers, at an affordable 
once It wtfures M Kernigharv 
Ritchie imptorneniation, supports 
floats, doubles, bn fields, struc- 
tures Bf*d unions; is Unix C com- 
patible, has 1 50 horary functions. 
Optirnoanon tools, is suitable for 
experienced programmers and 
suitable for beginners A step-by- 
step t trior iak is included. The com- 
pilar, programs and manual are 
wntreri by mix Software, of Texas, 
USA. The package includes a 450 
page, A4 sae book describing me 
operation o4 the compiler , C prog- 



rarrmlng and tutorial The com* 
pir#f runs under CP/M Pius and *s 
supplied on three inch disk — a 
second disk drive or RAM disk is 
recommended for CPC users M 
costs £39 50. An MSDOS version 
of this software rs also available for 
the PCI 51 2, 

Anyone interested m these pro- 
ducts should write to Advantage, 
33 Malyns Close Chinnor , Oxford- 
shire 0X9 *EW 

AMSTRAD USER GROUP 
(NORFOLK) 

User clubs are sprouting up all 
over the country. ! have recently 
heard from the Amstrad Usee 
Group {Norfolk; who are based at 
3fi Goose Lane, Sutton. Stalham. 
Norfolk NRi 2 9SE Their president 
has a signature wh*ch defies rec- 
ognition but he tails me the mem- 
bars are ordinary people from all 
walks of life who have Keyboards 
attached to their fingers 

Anyone interested »n jotmng the 
club should sand a stamped 
envelope to the 



LOOKING FOR A CLUB 

AMTIX' reader, K Jackson, who 
Uvea at 24 Barras Avenue, 
Annifslord, Cramtongtori NE23 
7QX. is looking for a user dub in 
his area. Anyone put there able to 
help Nm? 



USER CLUB 
DIRECTORY 



The first thing I shall do is 
apologise in case any of the club 
names and addresses are dupli- 
cated There are a lot of them 
but I would welcome any more 
to add Id the directory. 
Remember it will be published 
In every issue of AMTIX! Right 
here we go 



Gmfci L*«K AwArmfMt \M AJtm 
Wage rjruiMv*. Victoria toil 4u*tr*h* 



Lirrt«rt AMSTRAD CANTER 
BURY P Bon ?3 07? fpnpJWon Ctw«1 



AMSTRAD USERS CLUB PO Bom 324 Bm 
Si • WgjMm AmlrMa 



00h Ch*rtfl SINGAPORE AMSTRAD 
1CUUB BlK Jt* jwpnB. Eml SUM. 
?1 **42S. SPlGAPOflC KSd 

txmmx*tv com r v two &**&> a* 

A*£*f>Wdr\ t%Jriwmr Wpft.. MiJFFl#. MflnchMMF 

ItftifPO 

wrs_p _f areran, ambwest ambtrao 

610V 



M Ctwto htfm Wvoui L» CLUS 

SIPOaUTIQUt SAL/rSLl^ L£ CiB 1 FU 
L*>n* S2'7rj, caw 

SOOW BlVilry*ii>^AjFtoe, FrifiG*" 



amstrad user 
software database 13 woodtw* 

&.WUM QogJOffh. Ni'.wpfil Upon Tyrij Nf 3 
4*U 

Mr U J Dm. BlflHIW AMSTRAD 
USEES CuUB E mfnw Ppit Saufli W*m 

Mr J Gmn, AOVAMTA0E COMPUTER 
US£R OROUP 53 M#yni C*W. Owtnof. 
Oalcmlirw v OH) 4EW 

Tin CLUS* CM? Spot HO yg ClnWI 

Pi*c«, GatttfiHd Tym tfd Ww 

I* a Mofab*rM*« PCW USERS QROUP 17 
TOW 



^^__. Wf 

A*iSTIiACUS€ll0J*6u^rt««ttxi«ftMd 
teww Fvm Entail etonncn W*iuii WmI 
tWS3 3O0 



Rrtr Dra Ctwrtn. BUMNLtV CO-OP 
COMPUTFR CLUS. 82 MooriM ftad, 

Mr tetk Vwnqfi. THE NATIONAL INDC- 
AA*ST*AD 



USER CLUS 1 TV 
Midd* W#v NwroHr UUtJh*k HAS IE 

Mr A TMNIt, TAFF* WEli CO-OT> COMPU 
TER CLUV 43 MCrf HcMl. t|ftt WH. Soutfi 
OHfivrQir. 



Ill Tcrtmor^r* Raid Bum*, LnjwTm 

! eensu i 

1 1 2 AMTIX Christmas Speci al 



Conviutv Qtxm3 w*ttt* An* C^rm, See 

nigpn novo, rtirrow mm 

HfPChKh, CROYDON MICROCOMPUTER 
CLUB, £*r*m IWwvriC* Ltw ** CJtfmm 

SlnSL Cr^r4cn 

1986 



Mr D Wiktrwan, SUTTON UIIRARY COM 
PUTER CtMS Cwwii L**wnt » H*wn 

WfySJW 

Mr D Pitm NORTH HEHT AMATEUR 
COMPUTER CLUS i" ruriii Dtrwn SohOOt 
MLn,&ggnHi 



Mr a rwiar, 
CLUB Richmond 



COMPVTER 
C fllty Pvfe,B^oi 



Mr M T.». THANt T CO-QP COMPUTER 
CLUB ?t WMta G«m WHlbrooH. Mv- 

R*nfCT4 5WCi 



Mr D PA«4I. HUOD£RS*liLO CO-OP 
COMPUTER CLUB. JS Fouoy«3 Dnv« M^ 



COTAC ClUe TIM! 

Hart «A Ddw RcmkJ Rcxhti 14 WAfMlMCt 

L.ctfiacpftrl?5EA 

AMSTRAD GROUPS FEDERATION, TTm 
SlWU P J t Hh P CMrM 4 SuBrjnRwd, Gtf 
toft, MBltfi— It M^ B 7PH Tqi»i ?5S ?S79 

nOCKWQHAM-KWIHANA AMSTRAD 

COMPUTED CLUS. Th» SemlVy. Mr K 

SMv ?9 MAbow AvMhj#, Coo4oonQi43 W01I ■ 
*m Amtftmm wa 01S41 

AMSt RAO COMPUTER CLUS fctt fSAJ, TTM 
PrwMcMniK Mt C Scwdwt, P Bo- ;iD i : ,n 

MwjemiMixeotMii 



VICTORIA 

T*» S*cf fltirf -. P O Etoi 4? flnrfb ot* »Tfl 
WtMvnAushii 

rASTERH AMSTRAO USER CROUP TIM 
nmcrmtmrf, Swry FrwMaMon P 



WAOOA W AOOA AMSTRAD U 
TTMSfawtHV.MrJOnpev 
KipdOu. NSW ?S6: AutfirMta 

PORT MACOUAME AMSTRAD USERS 
GROUP Th» IwRiry, Crtig f MBl P O Bom 
fM PW M«qy»to J444. AuMnMf 



ftrhnMritr OQYCt . ft hm mdtrtjf Ml M^i* 

Wl CQ i M il i* lucffl MialM'tiup CorHact 



CPC USSR GUUS 



CPC CLUB, W chi rt OMHrot 
1 13 SS3D SMTlDkP* 5 Tft «3l 



3SSe,B«d 



WtfORfi 
S7Q1 



AMSTRAD CUM SC HWPt W IfvAjteMi 
MlMHPhifn CH*J83 1 EggMrtMr^p S^tfvtand 

rRSAK-SOFT-CLUB CPC 4S4: HMT 
■mUSMj M ThKKlDr<aiorm^SbWH S3 *5 



FREAK SOFT -CLUB CPC «S4. CPC Sim 
MtfiHi Eok«n Z o t WUfU JgUr StPHM Jti 

HTO^SabN G#rm*rv 

CLUSfluMDiMO Im RAum Hm*uGd 
n hi mi ft, RtDtMrtt Lupp«r1 Gan ariii Mii li, 

SASft Una*"l*y**3. U*TTMrly 

SCIWWRTH^OVCl USSR CtUB RHEPt- 
MAJN fk4ntmi\ im^fl 6 flOtt?, TraCxr 3, Qt 

cfYmy 

HtncrvHru aii i ^n 4 4JW 



Bj***v 



lft»4iw<SH BiitaiF, MlcAHt Dwfetr %m 



CPC USER ClUe LAATZEN. Cwvt«el: fhrtf 
M*MAmK«7ip?930liLUUint, 



SCC N ■ H . W ■ N -H. W I 

Club, 0»**r ThiM* Am KjrctMi«g 4S, SODS 

Hmritimrztmnfi.QmwiTmnt 

S C C H SorwwMw Commit* CU M*m 
Hmtb, AMj ti rwM r ScMn i W*phJ» StraiM 
60 SlOOHvfCxjrQSQ.OMftunr 



lm HOf 30 CH4KJ7 lm*mn. Svrtw 

■m 

JOYCE COMPUTER CLUB. Mfcel*. WMi*r 



MNS, 
CPC-CLUB, Ltrt Tffo^f rHRA 
Cm. rjii OruKfi, ^wftnriwf 



CPC USER-CLUB- VOOELAAMO. 
WMtorMr HAHfrwfrtrMat 9, O lt*o 
Fjrlutarv^. Qfrmpri^ 



SCHNEIDER CPC CLUB 

Baipmiaw OempuMn 

Korwtf Fotttrmmii 4. BHO Bayrmilh, 

Ovffiar^ 



CPC CLUB QflUfiDUNO 
1 MiAui J«t AmtfttfedUT 



CPC *M CLUB QWMrOUHO, QoflMCt I liiia 
1 4460 Ns». 



CPC-CLUS JOYCE 
? I i 4>Q0 HArntfl Ovrrwfr 
USER rXUfl m Dt R SCHWEIZ ' 4S4 Orvi- 



eiiflM Ct WM S Mi B h i tiM R i iM i THnmi 1 O* 

S4b3 rehnqkort S-ftwMridl 



JOYCE USER CLU B 

Mrt^ HMru H«M 4301} Etw 1 FrtrJl^r Nifk 



COMPUTER CLUB « v Atit 
tiet4fl7S Win* 



AMSTRAD 

Aacrwi A S C A MM ed i f im* CH* r -^ 



WESTERN SUBURB® AMSTRAD. Tt» fi« 

40^ Ai.rtEr*k* 



OROUP. TNt 
. IBt Ovy Cticmr Jill 1*1 
Cotil. W49« 4SM Au«rrtw 

CPC NUTZfR CLUB. CoiftKt, Frtti-i 

HWvmtnM** SpMMriH«4i 1 1 4BQQ BM 
1 Tii 06 71 ttlBTD 



;H 44«p ISfenJhom Tk OfiS 



II Mrs 

CPC CLUB MAGIC KEY, Contact. 



m USER CLUB, 

loop, a*wi 41 t* ix»m rise 



CPC CLUB QUNOU#*X ContKt KrM« Bv 



:R USER CLUS 
lH3t( Mrtd P*cc"or# fhhilK J4nttnu\t}\M_ut S 
7?aTBuFri«dhcrifeWi T«l 071 3S S7r>t 



JUYCB 

Tactab 

Ttf Ot 1 1 436 - ?ft 



» ttOO Ntfltttffl 4Q 



JOYCE USER CLUB ffw^rvKh^nf, Con- 
t#tV Arttmir Borvrw 



AdPWllHl Uw 0r4up 3S 
MwHoca Road, Lew* fwvm EMsli. Blc - - 
WlrMi WS3 300 WM MldMrtt CcmtKt 
>cpiO«??40S4ii 



Upwi Tjna 



Bci* 11, Oostoffi, 
NEIIRP 



□mari 



Comfwbngi HiMriMMtr Chwr* 
H^ w^igwi' Rqa0 S«M 
T4«4plWi6»7J0454 



DrvwiL. 1 1 Kfcurtww Ro*d SftKhjn . 
Erfl2 3Pf " 



Mor«WMlUw'tCWi41 
Qom, QotXnX Mvk^hMt Mt« fiLL ConfeBCf 
t*taC^y» U61 WG ?S7* 



OwwKpt = Chr^nterwv 



Oroup W hMfyn'4 CKh. 




3f4. OonH Al 10 WMMin Aiab 

UKl D Btatif H arfm^n TMgmw 0S-4MrS7ta 



OMB C^ 1 Orngrrf CKPM, 
SoiBWrvipn SOS 4LF TtM- 
prm Sou9«mp4on SH075 i#Mr Sim Con 
MtiBBRvrff 



Tf DllCfi Qrwi. ShtfMwn-by-Sta 

•MjiBm 



ClWlMHihiB W^rAp#rti . WHsyv AvWXA 
TfMpOon* Q392 21 ISE ConlAti JMwi KMM. 



COfSKt, R«xn 14, 4A Oqw ftg*J. 

WvmIahI. L oftdoft E l J MATiMuhuwOT. m 
?SC3 COAMCt^ 




In which RICHARD EDDY and 
MALCOLM HARDING reminisce 
over the past year's events in the 
Amstrad world. 



^>?$tm 



ydN^ 




1966, m the teams opinion, probably saw the 
"birth' of the Amstrad in the eyes of the Gen- 
eral F\il -it the year the machine has 
come m fur a great deaf ol *tick, tmm Kith the 

r\ an J tne software, companies, J 
Amstrad itseli, AM J <> many 

in is isctii' ii»i"«* vear, mainiv due 
' tact that the unpnal learn I e on 

protects, &** itf* About tfine 
I mer the past war, taking a look at 
! faces, the software an J ihe news that ena 
Med Amstrad to «tabush itself as one of the 
major companie* on the computer mar 

So what his become of that ageing team 
that hrtped to sel up AMTI o eariv 

days* mien it was bunded AWTIX' hjil two 
■>oger Kean and Jeremy Sp&ii 
iw moved over to I \1 and M 
> to play Id to a 
inr an, dearly rememb* 

ce ne abandoned u* last month, has 
been leen airier, but ii won as we get Apart* 
card well let vou know- Ex Tipster* Robin 
Candy, ha- gone on to further educat 
changed hi- vie. and colour 

(in-,es. and can ttiil be spotted hanging i 

ani* of Ludlow, iTie porcine 
dm- n to help set up 

rhalamus - .went produced an 

Amstrad game — and f:> TipMer Mk It RigT 
ii pun:! J 11 man now Th< rhe 

feces of early '86, the nev. ill be mrro 

d need in time Now let's go through the yrai 
t iiiiue by cover i 



, norm 
ucabon, 

s out at 







JANUARY 

Stil L und I r I h i i v a ( c h i ul eye of Messieurs Kean 
and Spencer the ti nit Accolade of the K 
was announced, rau/ii'mn from the infinitely 
strange guV* at Palace — it w» their style 
which made people realise that the Amstrad 
i lhjI J K-pui to original um.% with ^reai ^rapruc 
capabilities — thai was but a beginning — lit 
tie did we suspect what was to come Uu- 
Alwofi tjy- nwga soft front ww the hgemli 

At Kkrie Fa which, nearly a |W Liter, still 

rid*-*, high in I hi- popularity chart* Virgin 

made a reappearance into the software world 

- their tg Sworry Plus with 

BijgiMf) a, well er um r strange game that 

didn't exactly laki- l iff in vail prop- 

A rare appearance- of Auntie Aggie mm 
made in the form of the A^p 1 Christmas 
;ip . where she announced the arrival of 
sax modems that were scurrying around her 
office — she's never written a comp since and 
lha t p*irti cu la r co m p i s K 1 <4 left forgotten ■ . . 

Rain bird Software unveiled plan*, to release 

The Mux Sytttm and the AdnflfKar" Musir Sy»- 

fa the Arnold, Gary Lid don, now into 

BIGGER things 1 took apart a Toolkit ROM from 

Utopia and we looked at a drawing utility 

m fmm Computer Graphic! 



.1 0«*yCHTSmAN 





i^ygi* .— _.. 



S^d****' 



| • *■■ '' 









FEBRUARY 



The company that was on everyone's Itps. Ulti- 
mate, refpased the king awaited Ni$ht>lwdf — 
which marked the beginning of their ftlmaaon 
II pit****, which earned on from where 
Kme JMnreind Mien 8 had left off \ lopping on 
lo the Ultimate bandwagon wi» Gargoyle 
with their spoof 3D pame, Suvtws WtirU, 
ivhuh h..i%i 'k ,lN ^i^lin^ here in the Towers 
— ithrttaeem^sir.in^- th.n a\uz nearly a year 
nothing mote ha% ht-cn heard of the Gargoyle 
fust-Ppr-Fun label, let alone the ugly lirve hun- 
self r good old Sweevo, 




The «o<aU*d "Game of a lifetime" . Hife, 
arrived and was promptly awarded an 
Accolade - being nailed Df fhi- mutant 
levellers as an *all time classic' Unfortunately 
we discovered a few week* later that there was 
a horrendous rm^ m every copy that was on 
sale. Most people, much to I heir annoyance, 
had to wait a good ih months lu st-e a final 
CMKptetfed WJiW Wi *" lfc * , i^ long*'* i" r thr 
enpandedi ish- disk v* r ., , ri Intocom, the 
masiirv of the adventure garni-, certainly came 
Up with the goods r bean started with Zmk 
l r land 1 with JJrtwfJiPie for his mam course and 
the magnificent Hiidthiktrs Guide To TV 
Gakxv to tolkrw, Although none of them had 
specific ratings they were all worthy of an 
Accolade then, as tney are today, Hop of the 
Month went to Electric Dream* for their ftrel 
oftenng on the Amstrad — Winter Sport* — 
little did anyone kntiw that in future months 
they were to come up with such games a» Spn- 
diziy and Trwipesf 

Amtedi took a look at the latent printer from 
Amstrad. namel v the DMF2000 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 113 



MARCH 



March saw the Am vaJ of the first scary monster 
{Bwahli on the cover, bringing in i host of 
• plaints from scared and disgruntled read- 
flu t the green fleshy person na waft 
nothing compared to the hideous arrival of 
ihe first member of the new learn, our eminent 
arid worthy leader to this very day, i! v 
Crumbly, $*h the famous eyebrows greeted 
the humble public, and wht better way 10 
start an editorial career, but by making 
apologies for the mining accolade stickers 
from Elite and Swovqs World m the previous 
month. Not his huh, of course 1 There was no 
hesttahon wer what was the b*g smash hit of 
the month, Spmdtzzu wat here at last — mak^ 
ing up lor Electric Dream's temporary abbera- 
tkwi with frVmfff SfWff* Spmdizzy grabbed 9S% 
overall the highest mark an Amstrad g* m * 
has ever had. The game left us all feeling jolly 
happy and secure in the Knowledge that the 
AnWrad had a great future ahead of it 

Another Accolade went to Waste rtronu^ 
Spellbound, the first game to use David Jones' 
amazing window ma tn in sequence Mb made 
another statement — proving that budget 
games could be good and didn't have to oe 
regarded wtth trepidation. The long awaited 
H vp f rjper fj from Imagine arrived much to the 
I hen reviewers' disgust — calling it 'Poor 
sprites, feeble animation, wobbly and slow 
iooUin.' ■■ry disappointing - . Too 

many niggles to make it fun / Obviously 
Imagine didn't gel the name of the game they 
were hoping far. 

Crumbly opened up hi* briefcase (or the 
first lime and started the User Club regular 
feature, Roy LTM [ones continued his e*aim 
nation of njbttc Domain and there wen- 
detail* about Laser .Basic, (he Vorte* expansion 
board and the improved AMX Mv 

During the emf of ihe month the Amstrad 
Computer Show enjoyed a week-end of Man 
Chester hospitality Funny, it hasn't been out- 
side the capita] since then 1 



YA: 




MftUBt£ : ' — 







APRIL 




And so big Jeremy left us for pastures new (a 
term wrtl used here at (he Towers}, and Mal- 
colm HM all on hiv own now thai Roger had 
scampered of! hack to ZZAPl StUI he's a very 
iribly and hela still wtth ui M a 
goodbye tribute Roger w*& aJkrn^ to take 
r OTS for (he month (pre-Saffron day* 
v" know) Number one Accolade of the month 
was liii CtiL still regarded highly toi Uu novel 
approach to interactive idmct fiction April 
saw the announcement of the readers awards 
(or 1985, and as predicted Smrry took the bis- 
cuit, dragging in the Best Game Overall. Best 
Arcade Adventure. Bent graphics, Best Sound 
IX and Stale Of The Art Award To everyone's 
surprise Hyprrsptrf* received Best Sport* 
Simulation, after having been slagged off the 
month before. 



/ 



^Trtt^tV^ 



■ 




1 1 4 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



Also on the software front, Robin took an 
artistic leaning towards Mttbmmt Drvw, 
already very fa$m on Computer An he Mid 
w much more pleasing it was on the 
Amstrad' Previewed that month wa» f/nfolwi. 
tried and tested by ihe two Gary & — ftertn and 
Liddon — little did they suspect that we 
wouldn't see the finished version until last 
month, 

On the Amtech front we reviewed Music 
Ttdi'hfr from Child up lav Software and Mint 
Qftitf II from Database Software 



MAY 



May saw another great 'n" gory cover and 
although it didn't have any particular r- 
vence to any game. Oh did enjoy doing It all 
the same Km r a rticula I e accolades romped in 
for the mag F including the first arrival from 
over the channel — France's Grafton ami Sunk* 
in the shape of trft Deitrr. More fun from over 
the water appears ton month in the shape 
ofMCTfram Lortriel* do (hem frogs never 
-top coming up wiih great games? 

May %at\ the final appearance of (sob, sob) 
Tipster Robin Candy a* he bashed out* with a 
tear in htseye, his final message of sadness on 




leaving. Never mind, E'outmg prima donna 
RignalT came to the rescue ki take over and 
ry thing was well 'fi J good Gremlin 
Graphics; more renowned Tor their Mwrry 
fame, came up with a neat vanani o* their 
successful M game, thing On A Srnnv which 
had everyone popping round in the office for 
days after. [Doo do dooby do, do do dibby 
dibby do bo da do bo da da da ., 

ta«*ecHHM.owwwwwf) 

Guest wnter , Jim OUerhead, offered advice 
about cunng cassette problems and Crumbly 
became a year older l What a shame! 




T 






JULY 




v*$y*H& 



ttt*£ 




JUNE 



for some rrjvn lune appear, to bring 
everyone out in arcade adventures with both 
Airman and AfOWE taking Accuiade* hofn. 
the Ocean/Imagine cottage; in Brum, Accolade 
numem BN went to Martrch faf Ddi eivccl- 
leni arcade strategy Zoitfr, bawd on those £?**" 
fe monsterbots which still roam the AWlTX? 
office to this very day Ungorgeous, unpout- 
mg^ Sam Rw made ner first, and hopefully 
last, nude appearance in our esteemed 
organ, this was atoo courtesy of Martech 
(Uavid Martini got a lot n< answer for 1 ) We 
donl think Malcolm's ever been the same 
since, From pornography lo Prospeil. not for 
any particular reason but it makes 4 good link 
into prima donna RignaLI whose six month tip 
run begun with hts telling everyone how he 
was getting GBH from Pal W uorwn ( the 
gorgeous pouring mail sorters). What a wimp 



The heat or rather the lack of it, of summer 
obviously sparky programmers inl« pnxJtic- 
ing some quality gar lemonstrated by 

the si* accolades on offer in July Two ptf them, 

nfudb and Monty Ot Tfcr Umw, have both 
made recent re-appearances oil our Accolade 
collection tape, produced by Gremlin 
Graphics — both received rave RVfawi then 
as ifiey wot Fiench often ng 

from LBritieH* thk time, TV5Mybn» took an 

Jade back lo the home of garlic and lilillfl 
^ hey have done wel J this year 1 
Near miss of the tenlury has obviously got to 
ft * to EFYX 's WttttftG&itm which really should 
have b«en an Al lo Lade — so why wasn't it? We 
shall never know . 
I Hi mate missed their first Accolade with 

rfright hut su vertheless, it was a fun game 
and obviously amused many a [m rvt< r On the 
Technical front AMTIX! lech supremo Simon 
(Raspy throat) Goodwin tame up with a 
unique solution on how lo torn your com- 
munal garden Joyce into big "o f.K one lor a 
hum-iIv iwi>m\ i[iuil. 1 iope I : u I! y nothing went 
wrong . . , 




v&$m 




Cover Picture Rrdhowk drew Melbourne 
Houses firs* Accolade in the adventure mar 
kef . Sean also handed out Accolade? to Loth lo- 
rn? n for their Waterloo strategy game and to 
fbffebd for R* rasfmr — the fibt TancUca ping 
adventure game Vet, it certainly was a mega 
edition for Accolades with Gremlin Graphic* 
drawing in their neat two for Way <tf ffer Tiger 
(later called, Way Of The Pointy Sttcfcl and 
their wacky ball' game, flowm/rr French Con 
necnons came from PSS and ERE in the shape 
of Duemzdcy Wi^s, aeam a game thai heavDy 
relied on its unusual, bul innovative, gamep 
lxv which unrortunaU K was somewhal over- 
shadowed by Get Dexttr 

Contributor, Jon Bam, reviewed Mum 
Minstrel from Kuma and William Jones took an 
in depth look at a spelling checker called Pros- 
peli from Amor 




AUGUST ^ 



And so, six months after Cauldnm. I he bom 
tarn the Palicf brought uf CtwMro* H — the 
ftimpldn Striken Back; reaping in an Accojade 
Other games of the monlh included ihe ill 
singtng, aU dancing, all d no king Harvey Hmd* 
hunger * great little game Although very sinv 
pie, it provided us all with a laugh — tt also 
got Firebird another Accolade Id add to their 
ever (growing collection (To match their gi< 
mg collection of FVrsches} l : l Retaniogor 
first piccy in the mag, much to his disapproval 
but much to our amusement. Budget games 
had their own supplement, although none 
were particularly magnificent apart from Mjv 
tertmni. iifc Man which managed an 

mII B2% Odin hiid their first Aivolade to 
celebrate three lirvt r» I Nudes ( >f Trsflrf, 

which followed the adventures of Charlie 
Fothenngham Gnu nes in his m^m romp 
ContnbutLir, Paul Sherreard, our jolly Lon- 
connectton penKm,, reviewed a tape to 
disk transfer utility from Nemesis called I he 
tkmzv Meddler, Anthony Clarke arrived with 
his hardware scnsli.And u> ended the old 
AMTTX1 



SEPTEMBER 



And then there was us H the new AMTtt? — a 
while krt note foONr *i^i ejujliim Hot ptttffbi 
September came t?om thn^ 1 verj 1 different 
AiiuLui^x David fonea had h^ apooiid 
Accolade with Knight Ti/wr. and although not 
praised highly by Lee and Anthony, it proved 
a firm hit with Richard .is he handled MagR 
Knight into Ihe early hours of the morning 
determined to complete It, he never did Any- 
thing that compulsive surely deserves an 
Accolade p^^iil.ir ^netoo? 

From the unfamiliar company Micro pool 
came a German release. MrssKm F.ln^atot, 
which proved a firm iavounte with Rich and 
Mass (Sub-Editor then) and maybe il should 
have had higher ra tings Gaff of the month 
wt-nt lo the Art dept lor I heir mistake of put- 
ting tfu.tfcr Block on the same page as Gatdrun 
when really Rlodbustm should have been 
there The lone awaik-d Mega game' from 
Alligata. MeUatiivnt arrived and didn't cause 
i|uile as bi>; a stir as expected The review was 
somewhat 'tepid' to lay the least and as far as 
we can lumrmhr the game haiinl been played 
since the review. Krught Games, on the other 
hand, whik reodving ,i similar review 
Meltdown, has been dug out many a time lor j 
smash -em -up Ihe Joyce scene looked as if it 
was picking up, especially on Ihe games troni . 
and so we produced a special round-up of the 
games and utilities thai were on offer As 
expected ^irurtcamc oul on top, getting 92% 
overall (Where was the Accolade sticker ') and 
certain members of Ihe team can still be found 
playing it on their Joyce instead of writing 
reviews like they should he Tut lot 
Delta Four, who had already earned a suitable 
reputation for their *uperb fktmt i)iTHe Rings 
and Robin Of Sherlock* managed lo drag .in 
Accolade back to Swanmore fur their latest 
classic spoof ad ven lure, The Boggtt, suitably 
subtitled ' Bored Too' J f u mm mm Al so on the 
adventure hmnt was a strange lotle.-vr, game 
aptly dubbed The Fjcpeneme II won jctUim H 
not so much for the fad thai il w.\% a good 
adventure^ but purely lor the hil.mous. and 
often crude, response* that the input* gave, 
The be>« exptfitfice h-t ttw Batl ol UcRAfd 
and Lee in September was the arrival of Elec- 
tric Dreams fates! blockbuster lemprti — a 
game that is constantly played with I he sound 
limplitu-r on full blaist — great stuff? Gremlin 
Graphics got themselves another 

Accolade for jack The Nipper which ixi- abao- 
lutely raved about but ! m not so sure thai it 
hvidtV add^ovt-nrss thai M i taknadloliavi 

Am lech wt^nt mad wilh n-v r iews of a host of 
goodi.". hi. luding Utopia, a programmers 
tcwlkit (mm Arnar r a Silicon DisV m place of a 
second disk drive* the Dm nun! from Cheetah, 
and the Mkil 1 1 phi pen from Electric Studio 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 115 





OCTOBER 



The blown Autumn leaves fell and with n 
idnvf the onginal Gargoyle game, Tir Ml Not 

— the birth chikl of Pun Dawk and M/mpnri 
Sean was so well impressed with it thai with 
one (air swoop tin went An Accolade sticker I 
must admit a! though I w» never struck by the 
earlier versions of if , the Amstiad conversion 
seemed to have that little extra something — 
all joJty good stulf The great Atan gime, 
H/scurVi Fmrfy/us, was torn again on the 
Anutfid courtesy of Acti vision and got 
another Accolade into the bargain Another 
legend of the computer world also appeared 

— Doomdark* Revenge. Let absolutely raved 
over while I was not so sure, bul there if was; 
ii appear? to have proved popular Oitappomt- 
ment of the month went tu Impus-iiMr mBmbml 
a very weak conversion of the M pmi- which 



[ still love to play — but it lacked the alt impor- 
Mrn I 111 | [f i 1 ** ih.it made the original such .1 
hit, From PSSp the French hit company* came 
a somewhat disappointing flwrffr, all very 
pretty but vety little actual game. Cmmbl) 
Became the Mar of UTS for a month with hi* 
now farm »t; *s splattered all over the 

place. Quite a number of replies ca me t h rough 
to Saffron m I he lolhm ing days sticking Up tor 
the cuddly crumbly one — partkulaiy one 
Honey Basset who" inctdentially doesn't live 
aU that tar awav from Ma Icy V home town 
Teenage hero, kicky Steel, burst into the 
limelight, and then disappeared shortly after* 

larig at the PC'W show Rumour has it 

thai he will appear again 1 

AmtechTony really got stuck into h^ work 
and looked at such goodies as a Srvrrt utility 
from Superior Software the Miflajprr from 
Mirage Mirtocomputrev and the CBASlL 
C&fttptlfT from Digital Research. 

1 1 6 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



. 





NOVEMBER 



: jus! had to he hit wirh tas- 

trophe or other, some 30 pages were onginally 
booked for reviews but. unfottuna- 
summer slack caught up with ua and the 
Software bucket had una the rvmnanis ol 
MiineOgan illy quite a poor ofterfl 

Uiduly there was a great deal happenings dur- 
ing the month which meaiii I a lot to 

vou all about, so the magazine eveniuallv 
didn't lose any pages (unlike some I could 
mention — but 1 wont? iVspite the lai:k of 
software, three - cuLides turned 

m various gum*." Mr Bouncy had I hit 
with Jtavitiftffl. a not he i quality game tnrni 
Vortei who had already established tb- 
selves with such games as f f -imtnttt 

One andrli^KHy Fnttrnttttr f 

Oflfi Oirr made a reasonable mark I 
game such as n was Mass lowd it and made 
some astute corn met t wai only then 

then we rv.ih.sed he i; a 

Sub, and he was bound and gagged and 

led writing n >ue Brains came 

tntq play quite substantially when Dom and 
Mark; fiom Domarit, brought up to Ludlow 
Although not originally 
intended Id be an Accolade We BOOfl changed 
our minds when we Fiallaed that we had been 
playing it neare. :.iv The legend (Or 

nld lh.it be leg-end?) its rf Ki*r p . 

irnvcd. much to out disgust. That 
traitor. Lee Pad don jfinnffirifl it ,is The 
biggest pile o< tosh it hai ore 

to play' whereas A nthom w< .'vii- 

■We subtle approach. 'What a con!" In futur* 
when given the choice having my 

appendix out or pl+i I think I 

shall choose the operation — ai leasi ilu-n ftm 
get an ftfiMJthH 

The Joyce had 1 1 ft ttrsi proper Accolade with 
JtmuihauA we remember being ver> IwpfBUCd 
and maybe went over the top when we hailed 
tt as 'the ultimate in arcade simulation 1 

, ert holes* it was very good I think mist.i I- t 

tv must gp to ua hir rtol making 

Tmp Dwtr an Accolade — it really was, and toil 

uperb It earned the approval of ns three 
and we think ifs f.irr to say that if reviewed 
again the Accolade would tv then 1 (Okay 
WtondyyFine) 



[Ufclj 




■nff^M-t'*** 



th^L 



Zhpstmns 



DECEMBER 



The run-up to Christmas begin licit month 
with ateven prestigious A 
games And one to Infoc" 
L-iithi-r Goddesses Of PfcAw, which amaied 
Sean beyond belief, and wa$promtly awarded 
our coveted symbi>l Ptobably the belt of the 
best la-^t month was Eutoton being hailed at 
t fie m \ m tnncry ipe II my; 

can. reated' — ye* we likrd it quii 

hit Mr Bouncy Ball returned, courtesy of 
inlin this time It bounced mw^th 
Tttotbi&ifT add ing jet another AccoUd . 
ever growlr\g colfe\ -in . m Two leeends turned 
up r tw ftr*t one being Scooby Duo, Despite 
fcH-in^ j war late it wvjs d^und to bo outstand- 
incty Kinni 1 think wt must have raved ot< 
a lot. Richard the most All the praLtue p.mJ 
off for him in the challenge this month — 
38..70G* Beat thai Rignallf Fhepthef legend wa* 
SfrM tfaivk. a ^ame that must hive helped 
many a magazine to survive in advertising 




Although not natty wnrth thi- wait, it wasn't 
all that bad. A company that had been keeping 
411 let for tome time, A n' F, brought out the 
amazing sport of the future with Xe*w (pro- 
nounced Zee+fto— a* In Beano) Panu causer 
of the month went to fkari Warner* thai arrived 
with Nigel from Elite onl> hours hetore our 
deadline. It caused havoc — what wai usually 
ihe 'tidying up [vnod suddenly became last 
minute reviewing time. Well, there s no rest 
lor the wicked Predictably the terrible two- 
some voted the Accolade tompila tion tape an 
Accolade — well worth it tor ten «aiud„ where 
else cou Id you get tho^e games at £i 'm\ eac h ? 

the d* : with con- 

tributions (mm David Thorpe who b**hed up 
Mr Tin, €RI for the run and the American 
collage and Drawts 1 * Lair from the Software 
Project* team The actual g^rm- m 
unveiled until January, what a shan 
old mates fvom Gargoyle launched their 1 
label. FTL. with the fast action shoot 'em up, 
Lfghtfonr It would be nice to say that the year 
ended the way it began, but it dido 1 m we 
wont. 

1966 Certainly brought the Amstrad Up 
r r , m I . and us with it — stick with us and wa 
the Amstrad, and AM I IX f, rue thiough the 
helght^ Until m-^t yeai tni-n \\\ | Many 

Christmas and a Happy New Year Irom hun, 
and the same from me 1 ' 




iREMIEW&fs 





US Gold, £9-95 cass, Joystick or keys 



The dateline m July 1947, and 
ri'a & sweltering summer. As e 
player you must se4ect your 
allegiance — to the allies or 
towards the dastardly dictator As 
an aHy you wtfl lake the role ot JP 
Stryfcor . the youngest ever man to 
reach it* rank of tank comman- 
der , Having fought courageously 
during World War II to was 
awarded the Medal of Honour 
Quickly working his way up 
through the ranks he earned the 



stream of bullets at the oncoming 
parachutists who have moments 
before descending on the plain, tt 
you tafce the role of the allies you 
control the parachutists, guiding 
them behind the furthest . 
moving them forward end when 
dose enough launching hand gre^ 
nade stacks on the gun emplace- 
ment. You will also be in hj 1 1 control 
of the helicopter from where the 
parschul tats descend If you man- 
oeuvre me helicopter too low then 



fortress. If you. as the Dictator, 
manage to wipe out all the allied 
forces, then it will be an out-and- 
out victory and the game wtf end 

SEQUENCE TWO: The Rescue 



tilled forces have penetrated the 
anctuary and are attempting to 
the captives, currently 
ieing held hostage toy the Dk> 
fllor They have taken control Of 




admiration of all his colleagues 
x a hero). On the other hand if 
you don't want to be Mr Goody - 
Goody there's always the nasty 
and mean Dictator (Grrtm). The 
Delator is tailed as being the evil, 
rjioodlfiirsty stereotype of nn 
enemy Known to his comrades as 
The Dragon he earned himself a 
reputation somewhat akin to that 
Of the Atom bomb. A brilliant milit- 
ary tactician who ties been out- 
numbered many ■ time in bottle 
but usually succeeds due to his 
strategies of turning the table on 
the opposition through cunning 
and rutNessness 

Which side will you give your 
allegiance to 9 Whichever one you 
choose you wi 1 1 still be put through 
the same noorous ordeals 



SEQUENCE ONE: The AttftCfc 



The scene is that of an open land- 
scape with three rows of concrete 
walls. Nearest to you is the gun 
emplacement from where a raptd 
fire machine gun will issue a 



the parachutes win not have 
enough time to open and witi kill 
them; too high and they might be 



/7?0£S> 



\ 



easy orl 
no chal- 



Oh, d#ary t deary mo | 
Sham*, shame. US Gold) 
whet have you released?] 
I haven't seen a game of] 
this standard for a long! 
time — It 1 ! pathetic? The! 
graphics are terrible, thel 
sound FX are boring and I 
the tune gertS right up my I 
noMi The playjbility is] 
awful, rfs either 
extremely easy, no 
lenge whet -so 
There is absolutely 
nothing about this game I 
like and 1 wouldn't play It 
again rf they paid me ten 
quki! FORGET IT! 

Shot al by the Dictator In this 
sequence the Dictator has control 
over the gun emplacement and 
must try to illuminate Hie allied 
forces who are trying to storm his 



the gun emplacement and qutckry 
destroy any tanks that may 
attempt to launch an attack on the 
escaping captives. If you play the 
Dictator you fake control of the 
soldier based on top of the wall 
His objective is to attack the 
escaping captives- The escapees 
may also come in for attack from 
the tanks, trucks and men that 
appear from the trapdoors. The 
Key to success is to keep the gun 



emplacement active. Shooting 
everything in sight — eicapt, of 
course, for the escaping captives! 



SEQUENCE THREE: Tbe Escape 

Raying the Dictator m this part 
controls the course of the md? 
vidua! escape run and tanks that 
are located throughout the enemy 
terrain. The tank musi be man- 
oeuvred into such a position thai it 
can destroy the helicopter — con 
trolled by the allies, The aftes must 
select the number of hostages to 
be carried in each hekcoptsr. They 
have the ability to nre rockets and 
fly through the gaps *n the Mft but 
nof over them. 



SEQUENCE FOUR: The tattle 

Situated in a cave with a wide 
chasm separating the two sides 
you eventually come face to face 
with the Dictator, or Stryker — 
depending on whichever one you 
happen to be playing Ttn> only 
weapons you have a sharp pointed 



X£&^** 



This realty is a disgrace, 
how a company such as] 
US Gold ftmtm the nerve to) 
deliver this onto 4 
uneuspecting public 
beyond roe. The detaUa 
animation that was pre- 1 
sent on the M has been I 
totalry lost hen, without 
all the neat effects such I 
aa vie speech, end has 
mads most urtaacrfing to 
play. The collision decec- 
Don is very poor as wen — 
you have to prectasry hit 
your opponent wtlh the 
end o4 your stream of bul- 
lets, not exactly reeirtJc 
is tt? Qaryeratty. a poor 
product for which I 
wouldn't grve the time of 
day. 



sticks, known as Poontas Vou 
must fling them at your opposition 
m an attempt to k>l I him To actuary 
kill the opposition he wtW have to 
be hit twenty times and then you 
on watch him plunge into the 
depths with a mighty scream, 



PRESENTATION 67% 

Well packaged, plenty of oplions. 

GRAPHICS 2S°/o 

Poor, tiiocky and urvirnaginatrve. 

SOUND 12°/* 

My dog's bach is more tuneful 

PLAY ABILITY 1 0»/» 

Snigger, giggle, ha ha ha hat 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 4% 

As much tun as watching your car rust. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 0*/* 

A tenner is a bit steep for a tape that's better otf blank, 

OVERALL 10% 

PuH your socks up US Gold, 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 117 




Save T#»<*n 



bREVJEWSdJ £^ 




StAtu^ ill 



IAKUL! 1ULULK 



P I 



Hi* » " ' 



, | ... Oil ' 



THEY STOLE 
A MILLION 



39 Steps, £9.95 cass, joystick 



The Boss, that's you, a small 
lrme crook with big ideas. 
You've had enough of the petty 
larceny lark and have decided to 
gel into the big time However you 
realise thai you can not do this 
alone, but where can yog fund 
help"? Your answer came white* 
flicking through a copy of "What 
Cnme magazine. Some bright 
spark took *t upon himself to com- 
pMe a mssafce date twee system 
caJied SWAG (Software lor Aspir- 
ing Gangsters! which contains lots 



optron after each, Once on* H 
chosen it gives you some basic 
info on the location and the option 
10 buy the blueprints. As you make 
your way down the list the poce of 
the blueprints will increase with 
the importance ol the location 
When you have chosen what you 
are gqJng lor another window will 
appear offering you information on 
the value of the swag within, sec- 
urity data, and the alarm systems, 
information on each must be 
bought or else when it comes to 




Am* i 



Mill l* 
BOf) 



will follow during the actual rob- 
bery. You can individual control 
each member and instruct him 
where to go and what to do. Each 
action, such as pick a lock, smash 
a case, deactivate an alarm, lakes 
a specie lime and all the actions 
of the individual members must be 
coordinated. Coordination is the 
key and you must plan the robbery 
out SO as the members do not get 
in each other p a way The clock dis- 
plays the current time for each 
member and updates wrth every 
instruction, 
Once you are satisfied with your 




gt information on potential targets, 
available hoodlums end possible 
fences So what was left to do but 
write off, give a Stolen credit card 
number, and before you know It, 
you're sitting m front of your own 
computer ready to suss out the fist 
b-gjob. 

At the start of the game you are 
given 55 G'a (C55,0u0) to acquire 
a§ the necessaries for your fust 
job. The game a icon driven and 
you are given a window containing 
ehe ruttai options; New Game. 
uj*iQ Team, save Team, M 
Target r Hm Team, Pick Fence and 
Plan Raid. Mew Game stows you 
to reset the database end restart 
the game from the beginning. Save 
and Lead Teem simply alow you 
to saws or toad the Current status 
of the database and your team. 

The game re al ty starts when you 
chose the Set Target option 
Another window will appear with a 
list of frve possible jobv Coin deal- 
ers. Art Gallery, Diamond Mer- 
chant. High Streei Bank and the 
Narburak Museum and a view 



planning the raid locations of the 
loot, alarms eic wiH not be shown 
on the bluepnms. 

After choosing the target it 
comes to your teem. With the knfo 
already acquired you win be able 
to choose the persons with the 
skills needed. There are a total of 
eighteen thugs to be hired, eachol 
whhch have a specific skit and a 
secondary skill You can examine 
the information folders on any of 
Via available team members 
before making your choice A per- 
son with say, safe cracking as their 
lirst skill, will Take less time lhan 
one with it as a secondary skill 
You can have between one and 
four members in your team at any 
ttme and they can be fired a! any 
time tip to the Wueprmt stage 
Each member has a hiring price 
and wiM Wis a certain percentage 
of the loot once the robbery is 
completed 

Last, but not least, comes the 
selection of the fence to get rid of 
the loot. Here you have five 
options and again are able to look 



planning you then select the ' 
Commit Robbery 4 icon and it win 
all happen before your eyes When 
the robbery is taiong place you can 
use the 'Assist 9 loon which will i*»t 
through their folder to find out 
what they deal in before hiring one 
Each of the fences deals in two 
specific areas say, artwork and 



gold And now comes the Plan 
Raid stage. 

Once this stage has loaded the 
top part of the screen becomes a 
wtndow on the blueprint of the 
target you have selected- The 
lower pad contains the control 
icons and the display windows 
whtaft you will use io instruct the 
vanoue team members, This is tha 
section in which you create the 
'tracks* which the team m e mbe rs 
you view the progress of the team 
and assist them rl required. If the 
police are spotied you can tem- 
porarily freeze the actions of the 
team .until they pass, There ace 
also icon s T or aborting the robbery 
and legging it if things get a little 
stfeky if it ail goes as planned then 
you cash m on the foot and sal 
about planning your next b*g |ob. 
if not then you can start m over 



sgasi 
pay? 



Who said cnme doesn't 



/?2&s 



fr ust r ati n g but a l 
of a game! I have 
always dreamt off putting ] 
off the big one and her 
was my chance, Quite 
lot of concentration ft | 
needed to lake in all the 
info given for If one vital I 
place Is missed rf could] 
have disastrous con- 
sequences. In the and it's ' 
all worth it. ft ' s a nice f eel ■ 
ing to know that you've 

tat made too grand w*6 
a great fun getting 
there. This game has 
enormous playabilrty and 
plenty of options, It tied 
ptaying all day 



the sound 
minimal you don't realty 
notice as you are lolalry 
engrossed in the actual 
piajikiy of the game, An 
excellent 
plenty of j 



PRESENTATION 87% 

Lovely scenario, uncomplicated. 

GRAPHICS «a D /* 

Sparce but not that important 

SOUND 30% 

Umrted to a few bleeps a bang and a siren. 



Straight ji\ and no meaatn'. 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 86% 

Being on the other skis of the law is so much more fun 1 

VALUE FOR MONEY BB% 

Tan quid for a pe l( ion , good deal thai 1 

OVERALL 83% 

A game with plenty of appeal. 



1 1 8 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 







NOSFERATU 

THE 

VAMPYRE 



Piranha, £8.95 cass, joystick or keys 

I gun and the swords. These can be 
I used to battle against the fiends 
that inhabit the castle along with 
Noeferatu — they include nasty p n' 
mean guard dogs, ankle sucking 
r als and throat rubbling bats, all of 
which am oul to endanger your 
quest (and your irfa}, Movement 
around the easifee is achieved sim- 
ply by ironing through the doors 
and the secret passages — the 
screen* move m good of flick 
screen style. Locate Ihe deeds lo 
the house and you can make good 
your escape. 

Once outside the castle you may 
think that your quest is over but 
not quite. As we+l as the main 
character you now also take oon- 



spectre ot the n*ght . rs getting 
fed up with his dingy old castle. 
You must understand his predica- 
ment — aW by himself m a big ca-V 
11*. me cleaning and dusi ing must 
take Nm <says. its just far too 
much work tor him, he jusl can't 
keep i up. Being a clever sort of 
spectre he thinks it's time for a 
move, No more of this dark castle 
miles from anywhere lark, he fan- 
cies a nice semi m a remote hamlet 
catted Wismar 

Unfortunatly Jon Hartar just 
happens to be an estate agent 
who is selling this house — you 

Kf Jon. You have been sent to 
castle to complete the sale and 
you've discovered his aeerell 
Gasp 1 Shock! Horror? 

Now you must act as fast as 
your brain can think. If old Nos- 
sybabes moves mto his dream 
cottage then he will soon spread 
his wrath {and his doakF) over the 
bumkms who already inhabit Wis 
mar, turning them all into Vam- 
pyres — frits must obviously be 
prevented. You left the deeds to 
rue house on the dining room labia 
back at the castle, but they have 
di sappeared . Its up to you to find 
them and escape as soon as you 
can. Nosfaratu is at his most nasty 
at night when the castle doors are 
locked and the onty light is that 
from the moon which pours in 
through the arched windows. 

The rooms are displayed m 
forced 30 isometric, showing all 
manner of castle type artefacts. 
Wardrobes, great open hearths, 
Qgndtes, crucifixes and PWQltil an 
the wail Nearly all objects can be 
manipulated —most useful am 1 he 



/Thss 



By now ail you lovely I 
Wider* should have I 
gathered that my pet 
aonal view on 3D games 
era somewhat sceptical 
— I dont like them! OK so 
the ecreena era eB very 
Clever and pretty and this 
one la no exception, Wan- 
dering around looking for 
things bores me. The only 
dWerance here is that you 
control more than one 
Nope, not one 



trol of Lucy; your wife, and van 
Befsing. Lucy's brother-in- law and 
close admirer . NosfMHu has been 
drawn to Wisrnar by Lucy's special 
power of attraction, unknown to 
you she is the only me who can 
conquer the Vamp once and for all. 




dLv*4 



rfK 



fc*# 



How tNe la whet I ceil 
Loads of 
lo explore, kits of 
puzzles to solve — atl 
great fun, Although 
appearing abMMr in style 
lo NEXOft, R has a peel 
deal more going lor H, 
audi aa the I mpro v ed 
graphics which grve the 
games k»t of atmosphere. 
The playing area Is a huge 
one so maps will be help- 
ful, rt's quit* easy to get 
lost In that big cestie, 
There are qurte a few neat 
tou c h is to the game, 
such aa the totally black 
room that you can't see 
until you drop a can- 
delators there — clever 
hull? NOSFERATU la e 



of the few 
realty deserves 
film tie-in. 



deserves to be a 



You must keep her alive to com- 
plete the game. To ensure Lucy's 
protection you must kill ott all the 
rats that have swarmed into the 
town from the castle, again these 
can be attacked with your trusty 
sword. On the screen a population 
count is recorded lor you to keep 
an eye on how many people are 



shN surviving — it also acta as a 
status score so you know how wed 
you're doing 

if you have the deeds, Noeferatu 
will be forced to wander the streets 
and take shelter at night It you 
manage to trap Nm m one room 
for long enough then his OioooXist 
for Lucy will grow stronger and you 
can lure him into Ihe house and to 
ht$ ultimate destruction. 

The third part of the quest in set 
in Lucy's house; where you. aa 
Lucy, must end the Vamp's miser- 
abkj life. Unfortunately your mate 
arid van Hetang wH inset on keep- 
ing you kicked up in the house, 
unable to get at Nosfaratu Here 
you must lock the terrible two- 
some up ins room, while you keep 
Vamp occupied until dawn breaks 
and his hideous reign comes to an 
end (phew 1 what a toughie). No 
more Vamp means that all wHi bi^ 
happy and Ihe sun can once more 
shine in the happy town of Wiamar. 



7 




PRESENTATION 89% 

Good selection of Design Design options. 

GRAPHICS 87% 

Well animated 3D. 

SOUND 79% 

Jolty tuna throughout, 

PLAYABILITY 84% 

Easy to gat into , 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 82% 

but a challenge to solve. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 80% 

Cheaper then the video 

OVERALL 88% 

A great little 3D game by Design Ooaign. 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 1 1 9 




XEVIOUS 

Mttv torn **u, an adt jitccd 
lCChniihiKH.il! v > men [J ted 
a i tliucion wis (otccd to 
cvjtaite ihc F.jnh prior to 
the kc Ajpc. \o* . the** 
Vcvhjus people a*c rciufiuag 
in m\um their hcrit jp 
through conquer. From the 
cnnuuLs of jtmt Solvalu 
Mipcr *p j tec i lit *ou nmM 
ddend the Ejith hum 
uJttaict hy the Xtviob* 



SSmK!? , W.« £14.99 



AMSTIAD 



spKimiw wl£7.99? 



t 




no mint shoving, 
agitated mmics in mrisc iilfcd i :mpMium rt 
glitter ana shine. And the n when vou Ret to 
four ultimate challenge, the te*t you've 

Mgcih landed tor it's over money 

^K gobbled up h> insatiable drones in a 
matter sA m.t<mkU. Will von ever attain 
super hero status? F>on*i wander any loitgei, 

t Gold bring yon four outstanding cLlvmcs 
with all the excitement and realism o( their 
arcade originals in the comfort and warmth 
nor own home. 



/ 




GAUNTLET 

Efitcf i he Mm Id ill munMerv 
jnd nuiev Tri*cl ihe pjth 
ol mvuen j iid hi nihil in 
trirth ill I be iuod ilut 
replenishes vow health". 
Your vu* is kirred b\ in 
jieji dI iiiiFiiMtrs jnJ 
lepuiis ill en rim hein^ bul 
<he> Alt Hoi rum only foe in 
the qtieii lor tood, irtj*utr 
j rid ftu^K [N«[ inns - roar 
kllnw phicr* compete in 
vjrih ol the tunc Road 
bewif, 

ilMM I2S ^ p 

JfST' £9:99 £14.99 

Hs \ job d»k I 

SKCtlUMIRK £8,99^ 



IKM 



T^\ 



I24*i« 



I 

tOp 















l.v (,u|j Ltd.. 

Uihi 2/3, HaUotd Hif . 

Hdbri. Bniagfciin B* NUL 

Tri:n!l.lȣMfL 







BREAKTHRU 

Yuur nihsion wmoc 
f'kHO yiiur country \ 
roolutmnin ht,hirr 
location 400 milo behind 
cncmi Nncv. pmtihlr 
enemy urruments flimc 
thratfm, bclitopicrv unky 
itrpv, landmines j«! 
cquipmrni ihr worlds 

DMHI WpllLMllJlcd Jf Itldd 

vrilkk.., rm^tofl Mam* 
lira] mra»flc:GrL>cv(ucricr> 

unrld pract. 
ohKctmr* - rtw i 



AtfMIAJJ 



i 



R99£I4.W 



vrttTHLfH urn £g ¥ 99 r 











13233 




"{{Zhwixms 1 * 



Hewson, £8.95 cass, £14 
joystick and keys 



Something is amiss, in London 
town, there is an air of impend* 
rradoorn The awesome forces ol 
urban terrorism have chosen for 
•heif nejrt target the most sacred 
Of sacred, the Houses of Parlia- 
ment. At the head of the dastardly 
plot to btow up the very essence of 
democracy is the fiendish areb. 
Abnj C&ddabra. (s there anyone 



who can foil this devious plot* 



Y^^^o f 



4^S. 



CITY SUCKER didn't I 
raefy e c p »e l to me to 

begin with, but once you 
atari delving into the puz - 
xles you 're hook ed before 
you realise IL The appeal- 
ing aspect is that you 
don't have to cart object* 
from screen to screen kn a 
vein attempt to use them* 
moat can be picked up I 
and used on the s c r ee n 
that they are found on. 
Graphically, rt*s not the 
beat thing ever witnessed 
— the cfrnrttf¥ do tend 
to flflt mesay when they 
c olHde — but apart from 
that tt*a a naat game that 
will keep you nappy in 
t hoee cold winter 
monxns-. 

Slick, known to au the in crowd 
as Ctty Shaker, is the ' coolest dude 
m the btg smoke' and being the 
person he is. Keeps his e&rs pretty 
much to the ground, Whilst listen- 
ing to the grapevine one day he 
hears leti of this plot to rock the 
very foundations of our gtonous 
nation and takes ft upon himself to 
stop the evu scrupulous Abru. 

You play the pari of the heroic 
Slick In his attempt to construe! a 



^tt-Kl 



Although at first this 
■ ea rns to be yet another 
platform game, there are j 
some great f eatur e* th 
put tt ahead of moat of the j 
others. The halt screen 
flick between screens is 
very disconcerting to 
begin with, but once you 
get use to rt It can be a 
great help. The pm ileal 
are difficult end at times a 
vagu*, 1 etn afraid 
I still think platform 
games, where skill ts all 
that Is required and the 
onty difficult b*ts are how 
you gat up to that bottle 
to collect H, are the best, 
CITY SUCKER IS not in 
the class of JET SET 
WILLY but ft is still a vary 
good gam*. 




//?0£S 



plat- 



CFTY SLICKEfl 
variation to an 
form game 

Of there being al 
amount of rooms 
a few large 
to be roamed I 
around, and. instead of 
the full s cr e e n flick, there 
is a half - flic k + which takes 
a while to net used to as I { 
kept expecting the 
character to appear et the 
end of the screen; instead 
It appeals in the centra. 
Although Abru can easily 
be avoided he can 
become a pain at times as 
he positions himself In 
some damn annoying 
places. Another twist is 
that objects themselves 
can pick up other objects 
and they must be per- 
suaded to part with them 
by various means. On the 
whole a very nice chal- 
lenging game that should 
keep any arcade player 
gkied to his Amstrad for 
hours. 

EHXJ (Bomb Disposal Unit) of 
which the components are scat- 
tared across London in such 
diverse locations as Buckingham 
Palace, the British Museum, and 
the Tower of London. 

At the start of the game the 
bomb is already set in the Houses 
of Parliament; the time is Sam an d 
if you should fail to defuse it by the 
time the clock strikes 12pm, than 



the house comes to an untimely 
end and Abru has succeeded. 
&Uk must pick up the various 
ptecas of the BDU and take them 
to hrs secret hide away, cleverly 
disguised in the Houses of Parlia- 
ment 

Many other objects can be 
found lying around in the various 
locations and Slick can pick up 
and cany s*x of them around to 
help htm in his task. For ail this run- 
ning around leaping and search- 
ing. Slick needs energy and at Ihe 
3I3FI ol the game he has ihree Pep 
Pills As hs continues on his task 
his energy level sJowty decreases 
and the distances he can jump is 
proportionate to the energy he has 
left; the less energy the lesser the 
distance he can jump Luckily 
extra Pep Pills and items of food 
can be found on his l ravels to 
boost his energy. These, more 
often than not. must be taken 



when the opportunity arises- 

Of course the task *s noi just one 
of searching as there m% on array 
of hostile things in the game, such 
as Beefeaters and pigeons that 
Sick must avoW or they wt« 
deplete his energy on contact. To 
add to the problems, every hour 
on the hour, and every fifteen 
minutes, a warning will sound and 
the evil Ai>ru will enter the room m 
which SJick is presently situated. 
Abru is constantly on Slick's trad 
end if he catches him its instant 
death and the and of the game 

Once Slick has constructed the 
BDU it miniaturises and can be 
carried to the bomb SWck must 
I hen drop rl and it will slart lobbing 
buckets of water et the bomb until 
finally it is defused si which lime 
Abru will sett destruct 

What's the problem? After all its 
All m a days work for a super cool 
dude like the City Sicker/ 



PRE SI 

Useful demo mode , sick scenario 

GRAPHICS 72% 

Simple, but effective 

SOUND 67% 

NotNng mega, suits purpose well 



79% 
Plenty of things to do, m no particular order. 

rDICTIVE QUALITIES 00% 

i you reaNse you'll be hooked 

VALUE FOR MONEY 72% 

Quite fair, considering the content 

OVERALL 75% 

A pleasing game that will have masses Of appeal. 



1 22 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



— 




bBEVjnrrifr Mji" 






Mirror soft, C8.95 cass, £13,95 disk, 
joystick or keys 



Mown m the depths of your 
^#Amstrad resides many a 
carefree program. Most of these 
are happy with thett Mayfly exis- 
tence, written one moment, used 
The next and then wiped ctean 
from the memory Most of them fc 
thai is, but nol one certain prog- 
ram who insists on maintaining his 
presence — hrs name is Icon Jon 

In order lo escape certain death 
by power down, Jon must find a 
way to escape Irom the hardware 
world that is cumsmty his only 
abode — and this is where you 
come in 



bgffins. who have developed a 
system far superior to any seen 
before The system, HC+D (which 
Stands tor Human to Componeni 
Interface Device), allows you the 
all important link between you and 
Icon Jon 

The whole meihod of control is 
down lo ihe HCtD system and 
consists of [en icons which alt 
Open out mto sub-menus. The ten 
icons consist of 

Status whereby you can 
e&arrrine how far you are from 
rescuing icon Jon This ateo pro- 
vides you with an indication of the 








-ttft j 



\COH JON may be comi- 
cal* witty and very well 
executed but I am afraid 
that It didn't really appeal 
to ma. It's very good as 
arcade adventure* go. 
but the sequence of 
events is so obscure, that 
unless you have some 
bnM info ffi going to 
jaka you quite a long lima ' 
to gat somewhere. The 
icon system is very easy 
to use (though not par- 
ticularly fast), and 
enhances the ffimi quite 
« lot. A flood, highly 
polished game that 
should appeal to all those 
who enjoyed the Waily 
games. 



It Jon a to escape mt act (or at least 
ajrve). you as the User must inter- 
race directly with him and his 
friends, two permanent residents 
who go try the respective names 
of Mdy Capacrlaflor and Charlie 
Chipltfi {Groans. Luckily your task 
has been made easier by a team ot 



temperaments of both Charlie and 
Andy 

Chat aii of the other characters 
are quite conversant on many sub- 
jects including the weather gar- 
denfang and reviewers {Charming'), 
They might even be able to hejp 
you. should you treat ihem with 
respect. 

Type this icon connects you to 
any terminal on a waJI — from this 
you can call lifts, select printers 
and do all sorts of interesting n" 
useful things. 

Manipulate gives you access 
10 ail sorts of options You can 
wave, rub. combine two objects. 
dig and hit These may not appear 
very obviously useful at first, but 
Jon will need them in time 

Act: once again a fist appears, 
this one allows you to select any 
one ot the following options — 
pick up. drop, give and examine - 

Move the only, but essential, 
use of this is to leave ihe HCID 
operating system and return 
movement to the pUiytng area 

Notepad I his icon brings up a 
blank screen on which you can 
make any notes which you may 
feel will be relevant later in the 
game 

Help: pretty obvious really — 
but this also includes an update on 



rhere your rnateys are. 
Qutt simply ends the game. 
Various objects which will ~ 



/fkss 



The game gets off to a I 
bail atari with a pretty 
awful tune, but you soon 
forget this when you start | 
wandering around. Over- 
all the game Is witty and I 
amusing, but it had me 
roaming around getting 
nowhere foe quite a con* I 
siderabla lime. Having 
said that, once you get! 
accustomed to the 
whereabouts of the 
rooms it becomes a mat- 
ter of routine. The icon 
system Is relatively slow. 
However it la very simple 
to use. giving an overall 
feai of a leisurely stroll In 
the park ICON JON cer 
■bpih .^eeps^jnju e_—5*jyreeO| 
and in the end that's all 
that matters. 



Jon in his search lor freedom, can 
be found scattered around 
Arnsfrad s innards These can 
range from a toothbrush to a UB40 



ICON JON' has absolutely] 
maasss of comic appeal. 

it's full of puns and quips. | 
The overall 'feel 1 Is 
logical, but don't get put] 
off by that phrase 
because it's alio very 
enjoyable right from the! 
outset, This enjoyment ■* I 
sNghtfy by the 
music which I 
iway In the 
background — fT» Just S* 
well it had an off key or tt 
would have driven me 
nuts! H you fancy an 
arced* advantui * that's a 
bit out of the ordinary, 
give this one a whirt — Irs 
original, funny, challeng- 
ing, and most important 
ot all it 1 1 fun. 



LP. which means your neat port of 
Call will be the unemployment 
office (Double groan?)- Jon has a 
nmned tune m which 10 complete 
his assignment, and. should he 
tail, the program will crash. This 

mm you tth mar ** famdiar 

Amstrad sign logo Oh no 



Superb use of pull down menus and icons 

GRAPHICS 7»% 

Somewhat "timid but surt then purpose 



"/o 



Poor tune that gives no atmosphere at all 
PLAYABILITY 83% 

Initially Simple 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES BOV« 

but vary challenging, 

VALUE FOR MONEY 78% 

A fair price for all It's Offerings 

OVERALL BO% 

A pleasant game thai has something for everyone 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 1 23 




>REV.IEWS< 





VIRGIN ATLANTIC 
CHALLENGE GAME 



"«? 



Virgin Software, 
cass £9*95 

Yes talks, star of stage, screen 
and video, Mrs Thatcher's 
Golden Soy and media flavour of 
the month, Richard Branson, now 
goes for the utt imate ego trip : star- 
ring in nts own computer game 

Not even those epic egosters on 
ZZAP* have ever done that' When 
he's not craning up Britain, or 
making his millions, there's 
nothing our golden wonder boy 
likes better than chugging around 
that hTtie pond, the little old Atlan- 
tic Ocean, after the elusive Slue 
Riband trophy for the fastest cros- 
sing. &Jt those nasty oid Ameri- 
cans aren ' t even going to give him 
the trophy, some chikJish excuse 
like the cup was meant to be for 
ocean going liners end not over* 
grown speedboats 



0G 



, . e« 



Be that as it may, this game 
recreates the successful second 
attempt c* Mr Branson and Ns 
merry men. The teal must be 



£i22 



( p It* ft not swl Lilly good I 
is tt? For a atari rt doesn't 
faJsMiV *nto arty particu - 1 
tar category: there's noil 
enough action tor an I 
arcade game, there isn't] 
enough s tr a t e g y for al 
strategy game and there! 
aren't any problems to] 
solve, Some of the) 

Bprrtcs ere quite pretty, 
some of the promised 
Wis and pieces, like the 
tanker, never even 
appear, It seemed unduly 
harsh at times, some- 
time* you gel no chance 
to respond when some- 
thing goes wrong, Well, 
perhaps h*e mum wilt buy 
• copy. 

piloted across Ihe Atlantic in the 
quickest possible time, 

Mr Branson controls his boat 
with s number of sub screens The 



O0 t 3^ 



mam screen shows a cut away 
view oi the boat. Distributed along 
its length are the telsx machine, 
the radar, the galley, the map. the 
bridge and the engine room. Each 
of these positions can be acces- 
sed by pushing forward with the 
joystick This brings up another 
screen with various bits of infor- 
mal ion. The telex informs our hero 
of the latest stunning business 
opportunities open to hm and 
asks for instant Yes/No decisions 
about them, this efthsr makes or 
loses Mr Branson a lorrs ton a 
spondgiikS- 

Ne*t comes the radar. This leJIs 
the Goftien Wonder boy where the 
next fuel tanker is. The boat has to 
maks three refusing stops with 
tankers perked out «n the middJeof 
the Atlantic. After thai, comes the 
Galley, Now Richard is quite a 
keen trencherman and enjoys 
three squara meets a day plus the 
odd snack, rf ha goes without his 
videts, he goes a nasty shade of 
green and stows down a lot tf 
nothing is done after that, wall, the 
consequences ere jusi too terrible 
to think of. 

NeMt, the map shows the Chal- 
lenger's progress across the 
bnney Further aft (good seafaring 



type term thai) comes the bndge. 
the boat is steered from here and 
an eye can be kept on the weather 
outside Lasl, probacy ihe most 
important bit the engine room. 



Richard Branson 
have had an exciting time I 
crossing the Atlantic but 
this gam* fails to capture 
any of the sptni of the 
ancient mariner at alii I 
donl know how many 
instrument failures he [ 
had but the radar An this 
game only gave a bearing [ 
to refuelling mnipe 
tailed to either show them 
as a radar blip, as prom- 
ised in the instructions, or 
let me see them from the 
bridge — perhaps 
Richard was Jn a bit of a 
financial pickle and used 
smaller ones to 
money, Whatever 
pened, the gr ap Wce 
rjurt* neat but the gamep- 
lay is sadly missing and 
therefore Mr Branson 1 * 
game leaves a bad taste 
In the mouth. 





Mow you wouldn't expect Dicky to 
get Ns hands mucky m amongst 
the gaskets, he just keeps an eye 
on the hull stress and temperature 
Trie boat has to sto* down ft these 
things gel too high. 

When things go wrong, the 
cornputer puts up a message to 
tell Richard whal is wrong H you are 
about to tiff a fishing boat , or your 
perm has come out are rust two □! 



if this Is how Richard I 
Branson made rt 

Atlantic, then h* I 
the Duel 
Riband, a gold medal, and I 
ai other sorts of ace la -I 
motions, 'cos this guy] 
must be made of 
good stuff if he can livel 
though this for motm ten | 
minutes- 

minutes Is going a btt too 
light on rt. In simple terms, 
VIA GIN ATLANTIC C HAL- 
LE N G E H i* the pHs , I think 
hTft absolute trash it's 
about as good value far 
money as the average 
person buying a Chal- 
lenger II, and about as 
much use. Why anyone 
could play 
thift, era 

one could write h\ is more 
than a mystery to me, I Ve 
seen some pretty bed 
games as a reviewer, and 
VIRGIN ATLANTIC CHAL- 
LENGER is certainly one 
of them. Stay WELL clear, 
If you value your f He, your 
sanity, or anything else! 

the urgent messages Ocky tan 
get He must respond to these 
immediately or it could be the end 
lor Challenger 1 



PRESENTATION 58% 

Straightforward and dear, but undram<r 

GRAPHICS 80% 

Nothing terribly memorable here either. 

SOUND 24% 

E3I Ja-ia-lup. bl Inl in-lop. and lhat a your lot 

PLAYABILITY 43% 

A bit of e tough v 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 

About a* interesting as the real thing 

VALUE FOR MONEY 1: 

RipoKsviiie Arizona, 

OVERALL 26% 

C'mon Virgin, (et's have another Dan Dare 



Vo 



124 AMTIXChhsimasSpectal 1 986 



1 

I 

C 



U 

S 



bi 
it 



Vee 
the 

mm 
Dai 

tan 



Wa^ 







Gremlin Graphics^ £9.95 cass T 
£14.95 disk, joystick and keys 



You have proven your worthi- 
ness to hold ih* title of Master 
Warrior of Martial Arts, now haw- 
ever you face a perilous and 
tfwrjytask 

Master erf the Flame, Yaemon, 
has struck again and taken the 
Scrolls of Ketsum from the tempts, 
while carrying out this dastardly 
deed he has also murdered your 
stepfattier, Naii^rii Fired by 
revenge , you set out lo retrieve the 
scrolls from the evil Yeoman, to 
me God Kwon and 



YaemorVs minions are plentiful 
and you must usee! yot* Gunning 
as a Master to fight them off You 
may kick and punch them but you 
also have Shuncana fthiwrtng 
siars). these are particularly effec- 
tive. Good thing too, as they have 
to be used wisely because of ( heir 
limrted supply. As you fight your 
way through the nasties your 
energy level decreases, but luckily 
for you trve God Kwon is not to! ally 
powerless in his captivity and he 
may be called upon to replenish 



^H 



^ 



s 



1 1-^ 



«SV 



-I — 






release him from eternal hell Such 
is vour promise 

Your quest starts outside 
Quench Heart Keep, where a key 
must be found to gam access to 



^dUs^of 



I'm not keen on this of all. 
After Way Of The Tiger, I 
this offering Is a very poor 
one. If* possible to see 
what they were aiming for 
graphically strong 
combat game. 
Unfortunately the 

graphics have become tar 
too cluttered and end up 
as a bit of a mess. Alter a I 
while it might grow on me, 
but my initial impression 
is not a good one. How 
about a real follow up 
guys? 



YaemorVs domain. Once inside 
the three guardians of the Keep 
must be kled, but be careful as 
these may only be killed m a cer- 
I tan way As wen as the guardians, 



your endurance and inner force 
(another mixed blessing here I'm 
afraid; as his temper rs rather short 



/ffass 



H you're looking fr>r|. 
something new in tfus one i 
Vm afraid you'll be disap- 
pointed Although | 
AVENGER is a well pre 
sented game and graphi- 1 
tally tOund, ft strikes me 
h s just another Druid type 
game. The basic idea ill 
the same as the 

aforementioned, running ' 
around kiHing the na*t>e* 
and collecting objects. Of 
course this one has a few 
noveJ concepts, including 
the living floors, but the 
gamepfay is the same. A 
nice game on an old 



and you may anger h^ 

As you make your way through 
the numerous rooms you may 
notice that the floors are alive 
Spikes rise in and out of them to 



hinder your progress, these must 
be careiulty negotiated Various 
objects such as magic swords, 
keys, shuncans, crowbars, iron 
fists, amulets, charms f a container 
and a magic cord may be encoun- 
tered m these rooms, all of these 
are helpful to you m your quest 
You will also come across chests 
Laden with treasures that can be 
collected for your personal gam, 
but be careful not to let greed 
affect your judgement. Trap doors 



and Gniis will give you access to 
further level? both above and 
below 

To complete the game you must 
coHect ail the serous and escape 



^t£* 



Well it's not quit* 
Gauntlet, but rt seems like | 
quite a competent scroll 
that-sc reen . shoot - that - 
monster type of game. 
The whole thing looks | 
quite good, gc 
graphics mnd so on. bull 
the game does fait down [ 
on gemeplny, there is lit- 
tle more to rt than running | 
around shooting cr 
tures and co(lect*ng key*. 
Overall AVENGER la not 
so much a sequel am just 
another version of the 
type of game which is 
fashionable at the 
moment. 

from the Keep. Trus avenges your 
fathers death and releases Kwon 
from The pow& of Yaemon 
May Kwon be with you" 



PRESENTATION T 1 */o 

Straightforward, rtoihirig's amiss. 

GRAPHICS 80% 

1 Very neat, Ihough too colourful in ptaces. 

SOUND 63% 

Atmospheric FX 

PLAY ABILITY 78% 

The usual run around kiting nasties bit. 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 78% 

Should keep any arcade player busy for hours. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 69% 

H you ithe DoikI — buy it 

OVERALL 73% 

A good arcade gam* (hough coining Out gf the ordinary 



AMTI X Christmas Special 1 986 1 25 



SdfcBEUIEWS. 




FUTURE KNIGHT 



Gremlin Graphics, £9.95 cass T 
joystick only 



Aeons from now, in a world of 
strange behaviour, a peculiar 
prance i* at work. The land *s 
ruted by aevii and wicked hing who 
is duly out for ho Own, arm, plea- 
sure — of the sensual kind. After a 
flaming row with his beloved wife 
he banished her from the court and 
now, some two weeks later, he's 
finding it chtftcuit to firKi satisfac- 
tion His eye caught a fleeting 
glimpse of a gorgeous maiden 
who delivers the milk, Being of the 
unrestfainafito son old ftaoby guts 
has sent his evil mimorra to capture 
her and she now resides In the 
uppermost turret of his castle 

This might normally stnke you as 
a normal occurrence — he ' s had a 
long stnnc. of fancies — but th 



OK, so the her a \oak* a (it- 
tie over weight but he fits 
in. nicety with the overall 
outlook of the garn# r The 
raphics are smart and 
characters move wet) ' 
jh leaping around i 
la rattier a pr*d» busi- 
ne*t as in some cases the 
space given to do so is 
somewhat tight He 
all the taws of 
gravity and if he fafls too 
far he ends up crumpled 
on the floor shaking his 
m disgust. Poor or 
chubby doesn't half have 
to face some big buggers. 
In some screens there are 
some huge robot types 
and it cook me a while to 
that you can actu- 
ally kill them — they lake 
a krt of shooting. Not a 
classic game but oil the 
same ft' a enjoy abry piay- 



the last straw The voluptuous one 
iust happens to be your brt of fluff, 
your daflFfi" , your girl© pal — and 
you are desperate for revenge 
Luckily you just happen to be a 
Knight of the Future — a galloping 
crusader. So rt"S off you plod to the 
castle to rescue the damset, but 
the King gets word of your plot and 
fills the castle with a selection of 
well mean n" nasty minions You 
brave the awaiting penis and enter 

The castle is constructed from 
venous slabs of high density 
platinum which are totally resistant 
to arty pounding — so your route 
through the castle m clearly 
marked. To Ufl ortf *U the variola 
that haunt the castle you 
some weaponry To 
begin your quest you are equipped 
with s small gun Out venous 
weapons can be found through- 
out. They are located In a cabinet 

1 26 AMTI X C hrist mas Special 1 966 



with a p*ccy of a gun on n. When 
you stand near the cabin** it will 
drop a gun for you; you may also 
have a bomb, which destroys ail 
aliens on screen: a contuser. 
which hassles all the aliens for a 
limited amount of time; a Flash 
Bang, which — well. « speaks for 
itselfrealry. 

Travel around the castle is done 
by carefully manoeuvring your 



bulbous body around the various 
screens — each with their own 
network of pJatlorms and ladders. 
Some of the aliens have pre-set 
routes along these platforms — 
others may simply follow you 
around until you blast them info 
eternity Vonous spells can also be 
located around the cestie. These 
range from Bridge spells to Passes 
which will aJlow you to leave the 
levels of the castle 

Your energy is recorded as a 
siowly deecending score — start - 
ing oh 99$ When tt reaches you 
are no more, one dead hero — oh 
dear. Once you've battled through 



TgW 



FUTURE KNIGHT has 



very appealing 
qualities to It, it vbo has 
some features that are 
slightly annoying, Firstly 
the good news — there's 
some greet graphics and 
but maybe 

nder your 
is e brt porky. The 
fe full of humorous 
such as *• you 
don't do anything with Mr 
Future he performs a cute 
Utile dance to while away 
the time On the bad side 
rt can el get just » wee bit 
ledHHis, and that's what 
lets It down — rt'i worth 
doing a rain check on it 
though. 




I can't fault this game 
all > the graph tea are good, 
the sound just right, the 
plot totally unreaHstfc 
(like all good games) and 
the whole thing is 
polished. The large guar- 
dians that come after you 
are done very wen. even if 
they are not animated. 
There are plenty of traps 
to get you stuck b the only 
way out being to start the 
game again. H you are 
after mind numbing, high 
speed action then 
FUTURE KNIGHT will not 
appeal to you, but it you 
like a medium pace, 
thought provoking game 
that also offers 
then go out and get it. 



all the levels, kfled off the meamee 
you'll be allowed to be reunited 
wrth your loved one. go home and 
everything will be hckity boo, 






■SENTATION 72% 

Neat and m?m explanatory 

GRAPHICS 75% 

Wei defined, with a pleasant overall look 

SOUND «4% 

Great atmosphere medieval type soutdtraefc. rooe FX 

PLAYABILITV 76% 

Easy to get into but precise jumping 15 required 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 72% 

Should keep most gamester* amused ft* a considerable time 

VALUE FOR MONEY 71 V. 

Ten quid, wee aren't most good games? 

OVERALL 73°/* 

Nothing special, but worth a look afl the J 






^*m 





Aliigata, £8.95 cass, £14.95 disk 



Of All the household objects 
you could have been you 
have chosen to be a kettle and as 
luck would have it you've bean 
trapped m a complex underground 
system. There are 30 levels, each 
getting bigger as you progress, 
and you must work your way 
through m order to break tree. In 
each level there is a Bowel, rather 



the bowel and it will change into a 
diamond and one hit on the 
diamond will reveal either a im 
opener, a bonus, an energy giving 
jug of water, or an alien which can 
be destroyed by three hits, The 
opener must be collected and 
taken to a natch, (ending io the 
rwrt level, which will open as you 



approach ii 

On loading you are gjven a one 
or two player option, none player 
is chosen then another option is 
open lo you. whether you wish one 
or two kettles With two Kettles, 
although you only control the one, 
the second kettle follows you 
around, This can be very useful for 
protection purposes as there is 
another Cnzza whizzing around. 
There are also two Criz/a modes, 
proceed — where the Oi/za 
doesn't return until the fire button 
is released — and Retreat Here 



watch htm do all the work then mp 
kri and cotteci the spoils If your 
opponent collects the opener first 
you are still able to inflow him 
through the already open hatch 



-tj* 



was ekpeclmo some 
realty good from I 

but unfortunately 
this should have been 
released on a budget 
label. There mim not too 
many two player games 
and if* thai It scores quite 
well as. if the players do 
not co -operate one or the 
■ \m InWy io njn out of ' 

and me Uke ao 
many times before, KET 
TL E hi a game thai could 
haw been made much 
belter but the idea of 
frying around a 




Two Jrttfe Ke«Je mm*V* «* 



tike an earthen pot. which emits 
bubbles, Collision with these bub 
bles drams your energy Your only 
defence is your orbiting " ' Gnzza" 

The Crizza spins around the ket * 
tie protecting it from the bubbles 
fju t it can also be shot in any d irec - 
tion by pressing The f*ro button al 
the appropriate time. Ten hits on 



dU^^f 



*c* 



//2g£5 



KETTLE could have b 
a fun g ame — but it Isn't 
KETTLE could have been 
a graphically good game 
— but rt *an*L KETTLE 
could have had a good 
sound track — but it 
hasnt. Such a ptfy really, 
IPe like fh#» comment 
really — It's repetitive 
Another great game from 
— don't buy It! 



Although KETTLE is well 
presented, with plenty ot 
options, it tdtaMy failed to 
impress me. What realty | 
put me off was the p 

Eaphics and animation, 
r blocky or what? 
thought there was a 
earth tremor the way my I 
kettle shook when trying 
to gel through the hatch, ' 
The scrolling Is pretty bed 
as well with the scenery 
splitting up at times. On 
the two player game it can 
become rather difficult to 
know where the hell you 
are. Ear too much strain 
for the old mince pies. It 
might appeal to some 
people but tor me, 
YAUUCCCHHHHHW 



the Crtzza returns 
around your kettle 

On two player mode the screen 
is spOt in two allowing you to 
monitor an opponent's progress 
You can either help him. hinder 
him or, if you're the sneaky sort 






i NT ATI ON 67% 

N*ce demo, pfenty ofl options. 



Very naff in ptocee* 

SOUND 01°/* 

Adequate rx, and the tune's ok. 



Very confusing on two player mode. 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 49% 

Tiresome after a while. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 53% 

A fair price but a bed game. 



Could have been good but quick ty went off the bod. 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 127 



r AMTIX! is THE magazine for th* discerning ArnstracJ owner, 
combining the best In games reviews and technical know how + 
coping with adventures and s!r ?tt#gy. your problem* and cnjf m' 
You shouldn't miss out on this, but if you Haven't been ahle to 
get hold of earlier issues of AMTIX! we do have tom« in stock 
— end after all, you wouldn't want any holes in your AMTIX' 
binder 




BACK • Nil- 




B E R S ! 



No 1 November 19A5 

* Complete Guide to games I * Lightpens * Dun Daraeh Map * 
Pyjamarama Map * Evefy one's a Waily Map * Lords of Midnight 
Map " CP/M - Tape to Disk Utilities 

No 2 December 1 985 

* Complete Guide II * Fighting Fantasy * Alton 8 Map * Word 
Processing with Tasman - FORTH on the Am s trad 

No 3 January 1966 

* Gargoyle Games Profile * Knight Lore Map ' Public Domain 
CP/M * Computer Art * E*ten»ion ROMs * RS232 

No 4 February 1986 

* Dynamite Dan map * The world of Infocom adventures * 
Am*oft vimit * The first batch of results * Gremlin graphics, the 
journey P the people and the story * Introduction to educational 
software * Preview of the The Music Processor. 



BACK NUMBERS SPECIAL OFFER 

Each back number ol AMTIX' is availa- 
ble at CI .00 each {plus 20p fo* post and 
packing per item ordered) But why not 
take advantage of our special offer: 
• Order three issues or more at the 
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P0 BOX 10. LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SV8 IDS 



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No 5 March 1986 

" Cauldron map ' More competition winners ■ More educational 
software ' the improved AMX Mouse * the Voite* expansion 
board. 

No6ApnM986 

* Maps of Gunf right. Marsport end Three Weeks In Paradise ■ 
A review of Pyradev * The world of Lothlorien * A visrt to the 
Ocean and Imagine software company * Readers awards * The 
Am tut! questionnaire - yet more competition winners. 

No 7 May 1986 

* Battle of the Chess Giants * The world of PSS ' A transatlantic 
interview with Infocom (pt 1) " Reviews of Rain bird's Music 
System and the Melbourne Drew ' Competition winners. 

No a June 1986 

' Maps of Shadowfire end Bounder (parte 1 end 2f * The con- 
cluding pert of the Infocom Interviews * Spotlight on Act Melon 
■ A dissection of Artificial intelligence * More competition win- 
ners, 

Nc9Ju*y1986 

' Maps of Movie and Nomad " How to beef up your Joyce for 
C20I ' A review of Laser Genius * -Competition winners galore 

No 10 August 1966 

* Budget Special "Maps of Heavy on the Magick and Cauldron 
11 * A visit to Level 9 * Spoilt for Joyce including a review of 
Money Maker " Lots more competition winners. 

No 11 September 1986 

" Maps of Fairlight Saboteur and Movie * The ultimate Joyce 
supplement Including games reviews, a dust cover offer, typing 
tutorials and a chess comparison * Reviews of Promerge, a 
Silicon Disk Drive, a Miditreck end a Drum kit * The arrival of Lee 
P add on, Richard Eddy, Tony Clarke and Saffron Trevaskis ' 
The NEW look LOGO unveiled * The first brolly Induced OTS * 
The new look reviews ' Even more winners 

No 12 October 1386 

* First issue with new logo! ■ Tir Na Nog off art * On The Spot 
with Saffron " Mega Adventures reviewed! * Mirage Imager! ■ 
Fanzines Explored! ' Mapped Starquake. Jack the Nipper and 
Tir Na Nog * Short Story * First Challenge * Terminal Man * More 
winners!! 

No 13 November 1986 

'Saffron revealed \ * Accolades for Revolution. Tomahawk. Tri- 
vial Pursuits * Saffron's Scoreboard! ■ Derta 4 Profile * PCW 
Show " Art Studio and Mutt if ace 2 - Screwdriver * Rtcardo 
Pinto - Interviewed! " Tony wins a challenge ' Mapped Doom 
dark's Revenge and Equinox * Winners end Fun. fun. fun! 



^ 










REVIEWS- 



180 



Mastertronic, 
C2.99 cass 

Won hindered und Aieeey 1 
it s that elusive score which 
has beert so difficult to 
achieve for so long Mow you cart 
pr aciice in the comfort of ybur Own 
armchair without having to go 
down to mo pub In the pouring 
There s three variations m 
darts — the lust one is norma! pJlay 
The computer has a teem Of 
payers all ventabie experts with 
ihe did arrows: Mua Midc. Belly 
Sill, Dctboy Des> [fevrous Dave, 
Sure Shot S*d. Limp vVnst Larry 
and Tactical Ted The game is 
Standard match p»ay darts where 



To gel soma practice m tor the 
battle of the beef belly's you can 
play Clock Darts which should 




Thts has 10 tie on* of my aft 

time lave budge* 

The game play is superti 
but r hat 13 not to say that H m easy , 
« fad quite theopposrte The level 1 
of difficulty has been **[ so as to 
you coming back for more 
without discouraging you vWv 
nmg ** alwwa so Mtisiymg. The 
graphics and animatjcn are excel- 
lent and there's a nice tune to 




match So take me oche, its weH 

worth your dosh 1 



help you get to grips with Ihe fee* 
of the dart board The idea is lo 




TERRA COGNITA 



the two ptayers compete to 
who can score 50 Hirst on a baste 
out of threa carted sots" 

You control a wobbly hand that 
makes it way round the board con- 
trolled by your joystick — when 
you want to throw the dan press 
fire and your score win be chalked 
up on ihe blackboard beside the 
dartboard. When you have taken 




Surprising as it may 
iao is a damn good gam* 
— rhe sort of gam* that is 
gutted to the MAO Label. The 
on and graphics are 
superb and have been well 
thought out lo provide the 
upmost clarity. ISO ii rammed 
Kill of humour, especialty from 
opposing characters — 
Limp Wnst Larry — I ask you! 
Th* games are greet fun to play 
especially with the variety of 
options in the gam* 1111 take 
some time to master but it'll be 
great tun practising. 



your turn your opponent will lake 
his go - you will be told which seg 
ment he is aiming al and which he 
With the maximum score 
being the infamous 180 it follows 
that the highest number you C&n 
finish on is 170 — but there are 
easier ways to score, most of the 
winning cornbtnations betow i 



UfBUUiiiiy wtjni your way ^/uuckj 

the dan board from 20 lo l m a 
preset time i I you manage it with- 
out missing you will be fit enough 
to compete m the tournament It is 
also possible to play a two player 
round against another aspiring 
opponent — both with the not-so- 
trusty wobbly hands 

Should you be proficient to 
compete in the championship 
tournament then you wrll bo up 
against Jammy Jimmy — lo beat 
him you vvM have to be more than 
a m azi ng, 



Presentation 83% 

Plenty of options and a warm 
up mods, 

Graphics 86% 

Very smart 1 

Sound 72% 

Nice rune.itiud as the darts hit 
the board 

Playabiirty 85% 
UfceaJigootigi 
of practice 

Addictive Qualities 
80% 
B078houkimitN tea? 

Value for money 89% 

Cheap but definitely not nasty 
— buj 

Overall 85% 

Simply a great dirts game" 1 



Code Masters, 
£2.99 cass 

Knon, a planet far into the 
future, a planet orbiting * 
decaying sun, a planet which you. 
With TWO feNOw mining engineers. 
have been sent to survey Leaving 
the safety of the mother stop you 
descend lo the planet surface m a 
small scout craft and Travel far 
across the seemingly uninhabited 
surface. Whilst wandering around 

Siu come across the remains of a 
amor Robot — |ust it's head 
Being of Curious nature, one of 
your party kicks it — the head 
begins lo speak and tells the awe- 
some tale of mankind's destruc- 
tion of Krfcon. Tnen the ground 
begins to vibrate vigorously, the 
ground opens up and as the dusi 
scutes you discover the planet's 
artificial surface. You turn your 
attentions to the head, and see rt 
is attached to the very surface you 
stand on. Then n spews again but 
this time of revenge. . . . 



controlled droJds must be elimi- 
nated with your photon lasers or 
avoided. Fuel, extra lives and 
bonus points can be picked up by 
frying over the appropriate blocks 
on the surface. By flying over 




Unlike Mats. I found thta 
game qune tedious. I sia> 
pose iris a good bint-env 
up tor only 3 qmd but rf is nol very 
il The 



ongmsl The way the 
serais by » very similar lo BOUN- 
DER but There Is very nuts to keep 
you going once you get the hang 
of the game, There are a tow good 
features, the different ways the 
block interact with your ship, but 
ofnerwise m*s is one game mat wis 
ncT go tnto my aotTware ooaaceofi 



blocks with plus or minus 34gns cm 
you change speed but theee 
speeds only last lor o short brne 
Avoid the time shift blocks as 
these win take you bade to screen 




The game is shown on a plan 
view with the landscape screwing 
down You, as pilot of the scout 
ship, must make your way across 
the hundred screens to the waning 




*/l wea e (Ktte dubious 
about this gam* to start 
with but V soon found ft to 
be the sort of gam* that grow* 
on you One* you get umkj 1 o tha 
purpose of Che many brightly 
coloured Mocks on screen and 
remember what not to run Into,. 
n Becomes very enjoyvovs • i per - 
thcuuMty Hk* the change of 
speed blocks a* these must be 
uead at specific times rf you 
wan to get through safety. A 
very presentable game for a very 



mother ship. But this is not easy as 
the computer has activated flash- 
ing force field beams thai rfse up 
onto the surface, and these must 
be avoided Waves ot computer 



one You can also phefc up force 
field generators thai make you 
invmabie to the droits again only 
lor a shod time, though Win you 
suffer the Knon fat©? 



Presentation 05% 

Smart appearance, 
cated control* 

Graphics 70% 

Colourful and i 



Sound 35% 

Sufficient but i m flfri g spatial. 

Play ability 66% 

in the action from ttwwwooo 

Addictive Qualities 

S4% 

Probatty rut long lasting 

Value for money 68% 

i watM 

Overall 66% 

An impfBSKve budgaf 
tlKWi'emup 



AMTIX Christ mas Special 1986 129 







k BEV.IE.WS<| 



SEi*i£ 







PIPELINE 



M a s t e rl r o n i c t 
£1*99 cass 



Holes in the pipes means our 
hero. Foreman Fred, could 
soon have holes in htm 1 Poor Fred 
he* e problem, The pipes must be 
kept open and the barrets fitted, or 
Shetkh AMg the owner o* ihe 
plant, w*i have brtes of his anatomy 
removed by rather unpleasant 
means, fhr 'rouble is that over- 
night the workshop has gone bar 
$$ffc and -untold hordes ol manic 
dnlls hammers and other assorted 
sharp impl ements are wandering 
around the pipes trymg to punch 
notes In them Luckily Fred has a 
gun 10 beat off the attacks and an 
uni-mited supply of witting but 
Sbrttfr dense assistants {all c ailed 
WW), it there ta a laak m the works 
Wilt can ft* it 

TheonlyproWemisteopngWrii 
unmolested while he mends the 
holes with fits trusty Irish screwd- 
river (hammer 1 } Oho other small 
complication is that a nvai 
engineer has seen fit fc release his 
entire insect connection onto the 
pipes — most of which ans very 
nasty, eight legged pieces of work 
You assume the role of Fred and 



score, and rf rt empties — forget rl » 
Vou can afford to lose cqu n I less 
Wilis wrthout loss of points, so king 
as Fred keeps on the job Contact 




wntJibriofiMitt 
you ask me, but I sup- 
rt'i more than his 
Jete worth lo think about poor 
oW Will I like PIPELINE. rt p a the 
■on oi game where you have to 
experiment on each 
you And the right 
Fred to keep him 

safe. Once 
accomplished rt'» 
iry Dont •■^■ni. aomn 
fytng. The graphics mi 
Don ate met and tHere la a dnty 
but rattier repetitive Utile tune, A 
game weH worth adding to your 
collection. 



with any machinery will fcnocfc f fed 
or Will off the pipes with disastrous 
consequences Use Will as a 
shield rf you have to, has eipend- 
abte and there will be another 
along shortly Think of number one 
and keep those barrels fling. Oh. 
and watch out for the scorpions, 
they will follow Fred un ra ia f rtf- 
ously. 




with your gun you must attempt to 
keep the pipes clear if there i& a 
leak then you must lead Will to i 
so he can do his job. This is done 




PtPEUN£ sure to a wel tun 

game, one that (would have 

played tor ages rf i owi 

so much work to oo The 

wea vnpiemenTeo ... 

humourous 



graphics 

with soma vary 

taract« My only gnpe A thai 
-jrlaln characters are hard to see 
and recognise when they retreat 
behind a pipe. Not to worry it's a 
neat game that * wai worth two 
qukl 



by fust walking over huh. he wHI 
then follow you. If you aretoo slow 
m stopping the teak the level m the 
tank wM decreas e and id wfl your 

130 AMTIX Christmas Special 1966 



Presentation 67% 
Nice demo* plenty of options . 

Graphics 68% 

Very neat, serve the purpose 

weti 

Sound 57% 

FX are OK, tune gets on your 
nerves after 3 while. 

Payability 70% 

Trial and error. 

Addictive Qualftiee 

as% 

Tough screens, but very %x\a~ 

tying once completed 

Value for money 73% 

Mestartrorac says ft all 

Overall 70% 

A great Sink) game Buy ft 1 



OBSIDIAN 



Americana, 
£2.99 cassette 



The space station. Obsidian, 
built within a huge asteroid* 15 
on course for a Week hole The 
subterranean station is shielded 
by a gravity protection field which 
is generated by five engines The 
station ts thus prepared to enter 
another universe and rendezvous 
wrth its sister ship, Although ihe 
(urea tietd protects the station it 15 
not able to protect the crew from 
the immense gravitational forces 
of the black hole. The crew has 
transferred to a specially shielded 
ship ready to follow Obsidian 
when suddenly disaster strikes, A 
freak radiation storm deactivates 
the station's power system. 

Being the only person with 
sufficient knowledge and expen- 



whatever you are carrying 

Vou must work what objects are 
used to overcome the venous sec - 
unty systems. There are an array 
of security droids which either fire 
at you or hinder your progress 
Contact with these or with Laser 



When this game came out 
an Those months ago as a 
Ml price game *s was one 
ol my tevourrtee Now it has come 
back as a budget game rt T s an even 
better buy The best thing about n 
is you don't have to zap everything 
m wight, it's all brain work as wefl 
as a little luck. This is one game 
that should keep you going tor a 
while Everyone should have this 
game m they software o oie cbo n 



beams across passages, will 
cause the loss Of one of your five 
ii v« They must be avoided as you 
have no means of defence, only 
quick thinking. 




OBSIDIAN la 

the old Hnee of 

around a mate searching 
for things, but with a twist —you 
Cant Are back. Oddly as rt may 

eeem, Me make* it wry n4ay- 
eble as a lot of though! and plan- 
ning is needed to make your way 



deactivating the security 
terns as you go. Again, only 
being able to carry one object 
means that each slap must be 
carefully thought out. A clever 
variation on an old theme. 



As you fly around your power 
pack uses up rts ' niiro ' supply and 
once empty rt will explode But 
there are points m the station In 
which you can replenish your sup- 
ply — the trouble is finding them 



wee. rt is your job to beam aboard 
Obsidian, reactivate the power 
system, start the engines and 
reset the flight plan and ail before 
the station s engines carry you 
unshielded into the black hole- To 
guard against alien infiltration 
ObstdJan has many security sys- 
tems, so to enable you to move 
around you must collect items 
from their gravity containers hang- 
ing from the ceiling. Only one 
object can be carried a 1 any time. 
By Itytng up to the containers and 
pressing FIRE, you will exchange 
the object, in the container, with 



Presentation 69% 

Pretty I rile screen ihough tew 
options 

Graphict 70% 

Well usee base relief effects 

Sound 45% Functional, but 
not a lot of rt. 

Payability 75% 

AH p ram wo r k , bad luck trigger 
nappy finger*. 

Addictive Qualities 

58% 

Should keep you happy over 

Chrisimaa 

Value for money 09% 

Would be a great buy si twice 
the price. 

Overall 70% 

A good IrtHa slocking fetter. 









JUNGLE JANE 



Bug -Byte, £2.99 

cass t joystick 
and keys 



On, deary dewy, when Tar- 
zan's away the cannibals will 
pLay with poor pouting Jane on the 
iWm. Jane 1-5 in a hell of a state ior 
the canni&ais, nasty hombte 
heathens That they are, have 
decided that she looks much more 
appetising than baked Baboon. 
But where is beefy Tarzan, why is 
he not here to protect the touetfy 
lady tit me [ungfce? Wett he J s oft vis- 



nale enough to let one too many 
get away he than runs all the way 
round to the top of Jane's vine and 
starts chopping at rt wrth hrs some- 
what primitive stone axe. Inevita- 
bly Jane than falls into an awaiting 
pot al the base erf the vine. 

Do not fear for there is still hope 
for Jane yet The pot ts not quHe 
hot enough and she can still leap 
up and down. If you hme her jrump 
correctly you may be able to gain 
Jam an extra life by catching hold 
of a condor making passes over 
the pot If the worst comes to the 
worst end the Condor reaches the 
floor the pot wiH boil and Jane wilt 




it ing his poor sicfc old mother una- 
ware of Jane's gasiranomic fate- 
Being carnivorous, the hungry little 
monkey- Like cannibals Take an 
instant drshke tO anything of the 
'fuity kind. Luckily for Jane and 
seeing how ft «s a jungle, she has 
an unhmrted supply Of bananas 
which she heats up in a strategic 
place in her tight leopard skin cos- 
tume which ahe can then throw at 
the cannibals to protect harserf . 

Once loaded wrth bananas Jane 
can be found clinging to a vine on 
the Jeft hand side Of the screen on 
which she can move up and down 
The cannibals, holding on to giant 
Condors, Then start their descent 
from the top of the screen Jane 
must use all her jungle skills to 
knock them oft by winging the 
bananas at them, for it she fcets too 
many reach the bottom and gel 
back up it almost certainty means 
the pot lor Jane. If that isn't 
enough to worry Jane, ihere are 
coconuts whfch the little bleeders 
hurtle at her, and rf they strike- too 
often then yet again it could mean 
the pot If you should be untortu- 




JUMQLE JANE seem* lo 
me to be rather Knitted in 
>ey. The various 
I managed to complete 
of Jane moving up 
and down a vine attempting to 
the cannibals to 1 
wrth her bananas 
it. May be there are some 
screens further on but 
1 never managed to reach them. 
The game, for what rt la* is 
graphically sound and f 
entry colourful wrth the charac- 
ters moving nfcee and smoothly 
Hot one of the beet budgets I've 
seen and by no means the 




Far. far. tar. far too difficult 
for any of us mere mortal* 
here it the Towers 
dkm't gat much further then Maes 
and climbing upend down ropes 
aU doesn t reaiy appeal to me 
If you are wlWng topi 
with it then you may get some 
way Into the game — but 1 doubt 
rt. On the plus aide the graphics 
are reasonably bright and Tolly and 



graphici 
jpHyant 
wr How 



the sound isn't bad either 
ever, there does seem to be quite 
s drrterence between the demo 
mode and the actual game in the! 
in Hie demo bananas appear to 
come at a greater speed white hn 
Ihe game Itself yOu i^n onfy have 
a couple of bananas in the air at 
any one tkne. New mmd — rf you 
fancy a challenge it might be fun 
— Only not mudn. 



become ihe main course for all 
those starving little devtla. Yum. 
Yum. 



Prutntatlon 57% 

Not bad at all — good few 



Graphics 55% 

Joey, twg and bright. 

Sound 37% 

Po*y tune 
Pby**iMy23% 

A wee bit too hard 



Addictive Qualities 

22% 

Too frustrating to be enpyable. 

Value For Money 38% 

Ofcay -t*h. 

Overall 35% 

An interesting game that' a pusl 
too hard 



BACK TO REALITY 



Mastertron 




The artifact, a monstrous 
sphere, has descended upon 
Ganymede, normally a space 
observation station, making it sud- 
denly become the centre of the 
universe. It does not register any 
gravity, nor any mass — it is there 
simpfy in presence. However, and 
this is where the problem starts, a 
scientist named AJward has disap- 
peared from Ganymeda presumed 
dead, 

Following a surveillance test on 
Ihe Artifact, intelligence have 
suggested that A! ward is actually 
inside rt — existing; somehow He 
had managed to link up a pn m itive 
radio, and before contact was lost 
he iii turn ied base thai he ha* been 
set several puzzles to solve — rt he 
doesn't manage to do rt then the 
Artifact will close causing a fcrtack 




Puttie adventures mm 
becoming slightly 

puzzles such aa the one* here. 
They are aM far too unconnected 
and unlet* you search **my 
thing you re net going to haw 
\ objects arm 
located- The final Qu est 
to hang to much on luck rather 
than careful thinking — it 
nerory ■earns wonnwroes* ine 
wsHts far too 
slowly, opposed to the aliens 
have been togsAng 
le u e i tO y and go at mega feat 
It's Just not fain If IMa 
sort of game appears to you then 
R m Igh t be w orth chec Sung out; 
yjur 



■mmortaJ * this can onJy be 
achieved m one section of the 
Artifact which is reached in a moat 




08SJD4AN, the prsqual to 
thf*. was a van/ enj oya bl e 



irtvofved no klibng at aM. 
REALITY ismttie 



TO 



some of the ongtnai graphics 
In it The game rteetf * MM ok 



are 
okay 
but i tended to gat bored with it 
rather quickly, tfimpry because it n 
ao akfiar to OBSIDIAN. I am not 
too sure rt this game w* 
even to the fans of OG 
becauae o* thia tanaeitty, but if you 
have not seen the onpnal than u 
may be worth a look 



unconventional manner. The thud 
part of the task is to bnng together 
the matter and anti-matter ele- 
ments. These will only success- 
fully combine *n one certain loca- 
tion, and rf the pre~condrT±ons a*e 
satisfied There we go that's rt — 
the fate of the universe rests on 
your shoulders — once agafrn 



hole in the universe — Sucking ine 
lot of us to better not to dwell 
on that subject 

You play Alward so It's all up to 
ypu. Not a nice position i$ it? No 
there are several quests which are 
of vrtal importance. Firstly you 
must create antimatter ■ combine' 
the correct gasses with silicon and 
you will have power. Done that? 
Think you're finished? Mope. Next 
on the lot is to mafce yourself 



Prmm*tioft85% 

Very good, dear on screen but 
the iniay <s slightly waffiy 

Graphics 75% 

N ice implementation of bas- 

refoef graphics. 

Sound 54% 

Reasonable attempt at a tuna, 

Ptayabffity 51% 

Your character is tar to sk>w on 
htsfeet. 

Addictive Quaiifte* 
48% 

Tho arrfrcufty of the putztos 
may lead to frustration 

Value For Moo«yfl6% 

Lot* ot puzzhnQ for your p*n- 



Ov©rall58% 

A worthy foftow up to Cbantlm. 



AMTI X Chnstmas Special 1 986 1 3 1 





Order 
What 
You Want 
from the 
Largest flange 
of Software 
You 

Could Ever 
Wish Fori 



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HOtsJfOn do? 1 1 *tw>yi htw IW 
ypu mlqht warrf. t*ut if If i wf**f*i c 

It ior you. Chtfl wt wM. AffT of (ft* *criFfw*r* 

OfHTM By WHPFIfj VM fOF M HOMMf ■ 

■ut 14 **-rjid dttjfppolrff frtvnf r piMOJ H#ifl flrrt In 
<h«l avAlLabtlHy pt unuiufl litflur 

AJWTM I HUM Qtdor h boifco* few dip rnnnti of 

W w u f Wd tlrf r fufcllihin of t* 
CRASH *mJ UAP I 44 wfttah K*i bttn i 

torwtflytih, mi p«j can C» una* th* wytwil 



Imp 



TTMrvltnofl 



lf*Ofv*d.)uflitB* 

i In tf» rovfrwt to AMTU I or tn* 
tow* r*i*ft prft*. Should you ruvw ^^aurrici on 
pr 1c rt Jtrrt ring I fit numb*f ph gh * Ti 0** fft# hjf* 



"fiyort* ih*y lao* *OwO^^OH* P* If** Hh 

too pom en Ifw lam — 1 1 iff *r fcn wort 

Iho* U0 , *no SO* Off oroOn wort* nw« 1* 

Addmofufly, AMTlJtl kibur Ibtn *r 

4if1<Mn«1 |« »iJy «rvtHP*d i-d fWrtfw #kow 

•wry Ut i i P oroomS. W* m**# oo ttwoci 1 

«f polling (wfiMn Eh* iWJ 



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or bxwm mm pft-fi *"J i^fc*P* vat WTbtr «rtoiotOFnaMUrtt> 

^nnot**r|rtapatf^pjUing|nw*tfi, WWt^otfT WotlCATtOW LTB 

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,REYIEWS. 




/, 



-*-s^"t 



4 




Electric Drea 
£3.99 cass, 
joystick 
and keys 



ms f 



Xarqon >s 



a distant ptanet 
. where the oceans and seas 
rags on retenttasJy. for Xarqon 
has no natural land masses Thirty 
/ears ago the United Planets 
Cooperative wiypa Setf Build 
Ba$e on this unlivery work], and 
itif ough ume it has built itself Wo 
a mossjve complex ot stee* and 
Srbeon. Pertiaps it was the raging 
Mas and winds, or perhaps a freak 
radial ton storm from the sun, but it 



/f?0£S 



HiTHTim. not quite surei 
about this on*. Tin afraid [ 
controlling trusty old Nrk- 
Ntfc is a bit of a pain to say I 
tb# toast One* you Anally I 
get used to the controls.] 
and then work out howl 
the hell to get m r every 
thing is numfcy-dory (al-l 
though you do s«m to I 
lose your life rather ees- 1 
Wft. You mm constant'^ 
pounded by missiles and 
like, and your own 
of missiles ami 
mortars doesn't seem to 
last vary long. Perhaps 
you can replenish your 
armoury but I couldn't 
find out how The game is 
graphically good, but 
there's no soundtrack 
and the FX are limited to 
the hum of your craft and 
a few up*, bangs 
A game 
aiotofi 




is known that sometime m the past 
the intricate circuEtrY was cor* 
tupted Whateve* the reason, the 
baas has switched itself into 
Ranel GfiMTOtog Mode and has 
begun to bmW up energy m us 
Central Power Reeclor It will 
eventually use this energy to bum 
off the face of the planet 

Your mission is to enter Xarq 
and flood the Zimmerman 
Tranches which nddie the com- 
plex destroying the central roac 
lor . Unfortunately Xarq's defence 
and repair systems are futy opera - 
uonal, making it a virtually 
impenetrable fortress 

You start off on your mission in 
your trusty and ^ulry-armed Hi- 
Speed Hydraboat, Nik- Nik You* 
first task is to break into the base, 
unfortunately the entrance is soa- 
ked by two laser beams and the 
reactors, at ertftar end of the las- 
ers, must be knocked out to gam 
entrance, Once inside you must 
biast away the lock gates aHowmg 
the water to enter, thus flooding 
the tranches. Of course the task 15 
not thai simple as Xarq has its 



own defences There ate gun 
emplacements buried m the walls 



4^S 



The problem with XARQ. 
H that you hmm no gentle I 
Introduction to the game 
play, Load up and you're 
plunged right in at the I 
deep end - missiles com- 1 
Nig at you from every side , 
confusion structure of the I 
maze; It's just all a bit] 
much to start on. Untorlu- 1 
natety the contf ol method ! 
is one that I particularly 
hate fc y'k now — turn to the 
direction you went to 
move, and then press for* 
ward — Yuckypoo! Apart 
from thai there are a few 
neat puijlas to be solved, 
the occasional Interest 
ing thing lo aaa — but on 
a grand scale it didn't 
appeal to me *nd rt's not 
one that I'd recommend. 



of the complex which nave to be 
knocked out with Nik-Nrt 's lasers. 
The walls are thick and the las- 
ers cannot reach some of the 
emplacements, so, 10 combai this, 
you also have at your disposal 
guided missiles and mortars with 
much deeper penetration. These 
are implemented by holding down 
the appropriate key and the hre 



button simuhaneouaty until the 
penetration meter at the bottom of 
the screen reaches the correct 
depth and then releasing the fire 
button They fire m the direct ton m 
wtihfjn Nik- Nik is facing. 
Submarines use sonar to home 



This one reminded me| 
beevHy of PAHZAD 
ROME, the graphics andl 
game play are Just about 
the same. The ac tua I idea 
of the game is very good, 
but it is marred by the 
total unplay ability of the 
thing. You are 
vary little time to 
escape from dangerous I 
situations, and the sound 
effects that are meant to 
warn you of 
doom are often 1 
out by other noises. The 
idea of having mortars 
and depth-charges as 
well as lasers, makes the 
game much better. If only 
the thing were just a little 
easier then the game 
would be great, but al rts 
problems fust make It 
another 10 minute won- 



rn on you and 1 hen release homing 
torpedoes at you You -can tell 
mere is a sub m the area by the 
distinctive ptng of the sonar To 
combat the subs you have depth 
charges which are released by 
pressing the appropriate key 

The Zimmerman Trenches are 
arranged m concentric piers 
around the central power reactor 
Various coloured beacons are 
situated around Xstq indicating 
certam facilities Such as Pumping 
and Repair stations, Laser field 
UrenoraiOTS ana Kower r hbiqs , 

At the bottom of the screen ere 
the status displays and scanners 
indicating the cond<lK>rts of the 
engines. hu4l P weapons system, 
scanner, shields, fuel, and water 
depth of N.k-N.k 

If you fail another planet Me* 
the dust, or should that be sucks 
the r_ 



PRESENTATION 7B% 

Very well presented. Starting out in at the 

OR ARM I C» 73% 

Tbe game's best asset. 

SOUND 4S% 

Hums. zaps, bangs, bleeps and that's your lot 

PLAYABILITY 61% 

Dtfhcult consols, hie it. easily lost 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 45% 

Not a same to whteb you vwll readily return 

VALUE FOR MONEY 48% 

There are much batter games to spend your dosn or. 

OVERALL 55% 

Nice game but much too hartf- 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 1 33 





I 



n a mystical tfnitt the long 

ih<? fofoe$ of good and evil rages 
StilL Thanatos the destroyer, an 
anctonl dragon whose eternal 
desi i ny seemed to lie in the confl kn 
with the forces o* the underworld 
has now seen a way to and all the 
lull la fighting. He has made a 
packed with ilia enchantress 
'Eros 1 but the odds are against 
him. 

You control the large Thanatos 
who ts sat in the foreground. Ha la 
able to walk, swim, fly and bum his 
way through me landscape. He is 
afcso able to pick up objects such 
as rocka and wan people by 



touching !ht?m with Ml 
claws On the bottom left of the 
screen is Thartatoa'a heart which 
beats according to the strain he is 
put under from the various crea- 
tures If ri siarts beating too fast he 
must land and rut himself for *ff it 
turns bfcue it wil stop altogether 
and Thanatos win die. In the bot- 
tom right there is a gobtet indica- 
tion his firepower. H rt empties he 
must refuel himserl by eating a 
witch. The witch is found by back 
(racking for a shorn distance and 
will appear n«d b et w ee n two 
stakes. Unfortunately the task is 
not that simple for the witch 13 
guarded by a knight on horse back 
carryin g a lance, He must be 



f^f^j^ 



picked off his hcrse before 
Thanatos can simply walk over 
and devour the wrteh. Be careful 
for ttie kmglifa lance m dearty 

His first task is to colled Eros 
tram the first of thre 
travels are strewn with 
He win encounter giant 
Doves tnai swoop down and haa- 
tle him, ha can of course use hfa 
frre to kill them. He must also fly 
through caves that hurl boulders 
down at him and he must % over 
seas Men on the (Found afoot 
arrows from long bows and throw 
rocks Boulders can be dropped 
on them or the men can be pkdkad 
up and then propped on other 
man. On reaching The castle he 
must land and bum down the 



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■ TMANATOS is simply A plea- 
sure to play. It is graphically 
superb with amazing detail to 
mm dragon and the other huge 
creatures. It* ■ a welcome 
change ta have the eorrtroNmg 
character so big and the nestle* 
to small, It gave me a sense of 
superiority and seemed to 
encourage me to do wall.. The 
playabWty is excellent wtth 
movanierrtj of the dragon's 
head and daw* so wall ani- 
mated — especially when flam- 
ing Or packing thing* off the 
ground, My compliments to 
Ourei for bringing out such a 
brilliant game — I wouldn't t»54 - 
tele in buying tt and suggest you 
do the same. 



/f?0£S> 




en 



towards tow* 



itnV**, far ring EfO*. 




h^. WTthrockktctamrThwirtatprmpmrntopuft+rtm 
thooddp**9*n1 or two. 



gates and one© inside h© must 
land by Eros and await for her to 
climb on to hi$ nock. Be careful 
no! to pick her up m the claws for 
rt will end the game. 

Now on to the second castle and 
again the journey is treacherous. 
As wel as the Bees, Doves and 
groutxl sokftars whan he ftes over 
the sea giant serpentine monsters 



M r m. thi s is the game I've been 
waiting for ao long, No mora of 
this namby pamby saving the 
universe lark; no, just destroy rti 
Great! 1 Desprte his ovM repute* 
tion, ha ready is quite a pleasant 
Dragon — and a pleasure to take 
control of. If* surprising how 
professional rt ham been exe- 
cuted because all the move* 
rnent* appear so natural that 
you don't really appreciate It 
until you examine ft very cloaly. 
Th* choice of options on the 
select screen are so articulate 
taat rt Is possible to play a game 
that is especially aufted to you. 
A men 1 1 on must go to the superb 
title scran music which sets the 
atmosphere perfectly, I can't 
remember a piece Of music tike 
it before. THANATOS is perfec- 
tion in so many respects it's vary 
hard to fauft it — so 1 won't 



lunge at him from the dapths 
When in the caves huge spiders 
attempt to knock Eros from his 



■ I found TMANATOS highly 
compelling and v*wy addictive. 
The whole game has been well 
thought out and should keep 
you enthralled for weeks. The 
fevef of difficulty is set just right 
on all levels and allows you to 
get very far into the game before 
things get tough. Everything on 
screen moves very fast, even 
whan the second two headed 
dragon appears whtch 4 a as long 
as Ttwuftos himself The onFy 
thing I could find wrong with the 
program was the sound FX, they 
are too much like the Spectrum 
version, though effects such as 
the wing flaps have been 
improved. A great game and yet 
another classic from DureH- 



^tt^As^ 



neck. If she tails he must ^nd and 
pick her up before she la aaten 
ai i ve. On arrival at (he second cas 
tie he ones again m^butn down 
the gates and inside ha must 
locate and p*ck a speti book Both 
Eros and the span book must than 
be transported to the final carta. 
On routa he must wffl face fie 
greatest challenge yet as ha 
engagas In aatfai combat with a 
two headad dragon of simiar siza 
of hts own. The monster defeated , 
he then must errler the castle land 
a cauldron where E ros wH gat 
and perform the spati of ail 
spaNs to and the conflict for aw< 



%• 



PRESENTATION 94% 
SuparWy HwdWa options, no mess on screen 

% 

Amazing attention to dotal, great use of colour 

SOUND 93% 

Haunting theme tune, wtift accurate spot Fx 

PLAYABILITY 93% 

Simple, uncomprittiied connote making murder a deftghl 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 94% 

You jual cant keep your claws oft it 

VALUE FOR MONEY 92% 

Peasant aleytng couldn't be cheeper 



A highly **m*lm aad addtatfc* deetmctwe adventure 




AMTtX Christmas Special 1986 135 




>BEVJEW S^ 





Ihrkimas', 




US Gold, £9.95 cass, 
joystick and keys 



Just how did you get involved in 
all this dangerous mission 
terfc? You, JOnrty ' Jimho-Baby 1 
McQiboets, infiltrator, super sd- 
dier. engineer and general all- 
round nice guy 

A message is received, headed 
'The Destruction Of The Worid" 
TNe gives you ifrart tingling sensa- 
tion mat something dangerous is 
going to happen to your existence 
— it worries you. Apparently sortie 
rather nasty chap. Known as the 
Mad leader; has an idea in his head 
that he can lake over the world 
You must migrate his base and 
stop his idea turning into reality 
You are equipped with a 

fevOkrtjOTiary new helicopter — 
g naginai rvery titled the Wuzbang 



^itfU 



tt'a really hard to say any- 
thing very bed about this] 
game. There ia something 
for everyone end the] 
game play is quite addic- 
tive (although I can't see 
the addiction lasting very I 
long). The idea of fooling 
•fiemy plane* at the nght 
moments, and navigating j 
your way to the second \ 
section of the game is a 
good one, the simulator 

rtuh*BJ^hi 44AAA l&Ml* «AfnA_ 

irtowgn Boeoiwei wQtrim- 
thing to be deeir ed . I had 

rl fun. for a while, just 
knocking out the 
guards and blowing up 
the sentries, hut when I 

Cat down to the real prob- 
m the game was quite 
enjayftMe* 

Enierpnges Gumo ttm) Attach 
Chopper', The Gizmo has all the 
latest features that you would 
expect in such a chopper, a hi- 
fidelity stereo, designer skids, go- 
faster stripes and real imitation 
bearskin sport buckled seals (with 
a lumbar adjust 1 !. Somehow you 
just don 'i think that these will 
come m quite as handy as a good 
old-fashioned getting gun 



/fkzs 



I'm not keen on this si all | 
— It appears far too | 
cramped to be playable. 
To make matters worse l 
the instructions go on and 
on end on. They are 
reasonably amusing, but 
so much of rt seems to be 
insignificant waffle. After 
wacfng through the I 



of instructions, 
when the game did even- 
tually start I didn't realty 
went to ffrfey rt. Arid when 
I did* It left rue feeflng 
oeW. 



Upon entering the Trusty Gizmo 
you tind yourself lacing a row of 
sophisticated controls. Through 
the windshield you can just about 
make out your home base from 
where you must take oil this is the 
1 flight simulation part of the game 

With the battery engaged, the 
communications system opera* 
tionaL and the ignition switched 
into lite, you are now prepared to 
begin your solo flight. 

Once up in the clear blue sky r 
you must set the ADF {Automatic 
direction finder) which presets 
your flight course so that you will 
arrive at your destination with as 
little hassle as possible Once you 
have taken the trouWe to program 
iL it will always point m the direc- 
tion of your destination Moving off 
course will cause it to spin. When 
the ADF goes haywire it signals 
your amva! above Med Leader's 
base, make a quick landing and 
you're off into the second part of 
thegame Your journey will not be 
a totally pleasant one. on the way 
you may encounter friendly or hos- 
tile craft: these need not be shot at 
if you are crafty enough First ask 
them to identify themselves — 
when you have discovered wh*ch 
Side tray are on you can give them 
the correct code word infiltrator ■ 
for the goodies and "Overlord" for 
the nasty mob. If ihe situation does 
become a bft drfftcuU you might be 
in need of some self -protection, 
this comes in the form of either 
cannons, missiles, flares or chsfls 
Once you have reached she Mad 
Leader HO switch on The vVhisper 
mode — this enables you to land 
without the enemy suspecting e 
thing — brilliant' 

Quickly turn over the cassette, 
rewind it and set ft in motion once 
more, this done, you're SOOrt onto 
the ground mission. 

jimbo must complete the mis- 



sion described to him m the 
briefing, and make his way back to 
the Gizmo which is patiently wait- 
Ingfor him deep m the forest. 

The playing area is viewed from 
overhead, and you must guide 
Jirnbo through the forest until he 
reaches Mad Leader s HQ Luc My 
the chaps back at home had the 
foresight to provide you with an 
Action man survival kit — forged 
papers, gas bombs, sleeping gas. 
a mine detector, explosive 
charges and a camera, (this is 
essential if you ere to record the 
ememies dastardly plans). As you 
progress you may be asked for 
identification, show them your 
papers and if they suspect any- 
thing, return to the option screen, 
select some gas. and blow the hell 
out ol 1 1 1 

Once inside the camp, rt is pos- 
sible to break mto the buildings 
and fiRe through drawers end 
Other storage places. Should you 
set the alarm off {Priwesep' 
phweeepr) n fusi might be worth 
your while disguising yourself as a 
janitor — the outfit isn't too difficult 
to find Having collated al the 



information that you need — 
quickly scamper back to the 
Gizmo and fly all the way home 
where, no doubt, another perilous 
mission awaits you 



[d^W 



The thing that struck me] 
about INFILTRATOR It Its 
tack of consistency/: You I 
start off on m variant flight 
aim, go onto to a R am bo/ 1 
Commando clone and 
finely finish up with a Ml 
of detective work, ft mey 
be the cm that US Gold | 
are trying to offer some- 
thing to everyone, but I 
who is going to pay ten 
quid for a third of a game? 
Not me mataybootA. It's 
relatively compeMng, 
mainly due to the fact thai 
it's so cqmplfrceteri lo 
approach. K you fancy 
something out of the ordi- 
nary give this a whirl — it 
might prove worth your 
while. 



Far too many instructions to take in 

GRAPHICS 80% 

Interesting use of Mode one 

SOUND 55% 

No tune, few meagre effects 

PLAYABILITY 46% 

SbghHy drfficult due to slow response*. 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 

You might want to complete il once. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 42% 

Glmmoa'R'Gtmmes I Gtmm#a *P" — RIP OFF 1 

OVERALL 47% 

Another mediocre conversion from US GoW 



1 36 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 966 



mwm 




WERNER 



Ariolasoft, E8-95 cass, E14.95 disk, 
joystick or keys 



errw is a friendly sort of 
chap, a bit Of s prat but 
fnendiy a?i the same He's not 
exactly an oil pamiing — m taci 
he's downright ugly, more aKln to 
Hoc ace ugly face Wattoins than 
anything else. He*s 50 ugly and 
stupid that nobody tikes him 
(Afitinnn'j. and he's got no One to 
play with (sob, scb). Werner iike$ 
playing five games — and in all of 
them he needs your help lo play. 
So be a good Samaritan and hefp 
him — you're all he'egoft 

DIDDLING 

Dtddlmg is a game Of human 
nature and dice. Player one 
snakes the dice and takes a peek. 
letting no other player see Ihenr 
The dice are then passed 
unchanged to player two. he takes 
a look and must attempt to equal 




The main attraction of 
this game is obviously its 
graphic and comical con- 
— unfortunately, 
there i* very Irttle at u to \ 
marvel over. My favourite 
of the five games was the 
Motor Ride which is great 
fun, especially when poor 
old droopy -drawer* pets 
h+t in the fete by a blue 
melon! All nice and 
messy! WERNER can be 
enjoyable when played in 
a group of mates, as rt 
does tend to be a bfi hec- 
tic* lt*S a shame that this 
game Is a bit tacking 
because, with a bit more 
thought, it could have 
been a jolty good effort. 



-<t*ti 



The comic type graphics 
are brilliant, unfortunately 
good graphics don't] 
make a great game- 1 sup- 
pose that we should have I 
been ready lor what was 
to come as the box 
describes the whole thing | 
as J, Frve of the most nor- 
mar games ever", (fori 
normal read bonngl, It 
you have ever had the ple- 
asure of owning or seeing 
a WERNER flick book you 
will know what a great 
character he is, but rm 
afraid that the game «uf - 
fera from the same prob- 
lems as Danger Mouse, 
you know nice idea, bad 
in reality. It you're into 
simplistic games then 
this may be jus*, your cup 
of tea, but really if you are 
to appreciate the whole 
thing it Is best to play It 
during a party 

or better that score. He .shakes 
them, ukas a look, puts on Kls 
most honest face and tells player 
ihr ee of his equaJ or better <&ore 
then up lo player thfee to 
decide whether he was telling the 
truth or not If he decides that lies 
wn being told, then the dice are 
shown and if he's proved correct 
in hrs assumption then player two 
gets the beer mats (or whatever 
objects you choose to use). 11, on 
The other hand, he was telling the 
truth, then player three gels the 
mats, the object of the game is 
simply not to get any mats 

TOTMEPARTt.,. 

Werner, despite being an utter 
ts a driving licence. And 
stranger still, he's been invited To 
a party. The road from his humble 
abode ts an irritating one. full of 
everyday impediments such as 
j*t -propelled screw drivers, ftyng 
melons, a condense* on a pbgo 
stick and a blue ingnstton key 
extractor . These must be avoided 
j are to reach the party It can 
be qurte easily done by staying to 
the far right of the screen, out 
going at such high speed will make 
the engine overheat and crash 1 

WERNER'S PANIC TOUR 

Hop into the trusty vVemermobile 
for another ^olty jaunt down a 

seemmgiy quwt road Werner can 
Store four things m his car Hope- 
fully he's picked the nght stuff to 
lake on his journey or else H Hell be 
up that famous creek without a 
paddle' Well, maybe not, you 
should be safe if you pass objects 

Slowly 1 




ASSEMBLE A MOTORBIKE 

Having got a bit fed up with the 
Wernermobile, Wem@r is in search 
of alternative transport. A motor- 
bike would be nice [or so he 
ihmksl so he decides to build his 
own At the top of the screen is a 
low from which fcdke parts can 
be extracted Werner must care- 
fully fi 1 The b>ke together until he *s 
happy if you select a wrong piece 
for him he will get |0»y annoyed 
with you and throw one of his beer 
bottles away When he's run out of 
beer bottles you are unable to do 
any more construction If, on the 
other hand, a full bike rs produced 
you can sell it for Werner and make 
lots of lu warty money (lhat is if you 
can find anyone who wants the 
bloody si My looking thing!}. 

DRIVING IN FOG 

With the Werner bifce fully assem- 
bled its off m search ot a beauty 
spot for an afternoon picnic. Bui 
oh dearie me, poor Werner's got 
trapped m the fog (see what I mean 
— nothing ever goes right for thte 



3Qz6S 



No matter what anyone 
says to me they will never 
convince me that there is 
anything like a reasona- 
ble game in WERNER it's 
all very well the graphics 
being excellent and the 
character being very 
comical but where 1 a the 
gamepLay? The instruc- 
tions ire rather vague and 
I've got an inkling that 
they mult have lost 
something in translation 
(or maybe they're sup- 
posed to be this confus- 
ing). The only thing I man- 
aged lo complete was the 
'Build a Bike 41 game and 
that's onty cause then 
was nothing hounding 
me. Anyway all I got for 
my pams was the sight of 
some little ch ar ac t er 
throwing up on the screen 
— how charming! StiH 
after playing WERNER it 
like a good idea 



MENTATION 66% 

Badly written instruct ions', 

GRAPHICS 92% 

rb, ihe one thing this game has got 

SOUND 23% 

Bkeep. burp No tune. 

PLAYABILITY 7©% 

Easy to get into 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 

, but you probably won't want lo ever aga-n 

VALUE FOR MONEY 627< 
Bn pricey for a lew nice graphics, 

OVERALL 60% 

Uke being hit m the face wrtti a rotten melon. 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 1 37 




BOBBY BEARING 

The Edge. E9.SS cass« joystick or keys 



Technotear isn'l the i 
places \o live — 
when you've go* & tearaway f amity 
to take care of such as the Bear 
taut. Technotoar to a land or the 
future, a land made of ateei, ins- 



tated by things made ol Meal, Out 
of all the Bearing famity, Bobby is 
the only one with any brains about 
him, He and his brothers have 
been warned many a time not to 
scamper off into the Mntapjanee 



Upmttbm top ofttm grmmt Tower of Orange Bobby C4tr*fulfy winds 
Ma way down, How*v*r t Normmn Na*ty, m# *¥tt ball bMrfng, 
Jfie* warttop in th+hopmofs free meat 





adtacent 10 
Techoofoar, which is full of nasty 
bail bearing* To be fair, they 
havent done n yet. That was unw 
their f ascai of a cousin came to 

■ When Spindizty first hit the 
Am my I was hooked . but Gerald 
must bow out and let Bobby take 
the limelight. The thing that 
keeps you playing it the fact that 
it is impossible to fall off the 
adg*a of the world that The 
Edge haw* created. The 
graphics are perfect, especially 
whan Bobby wake* up from the 
shock of falling from a great 
height, he starts to blink and 
then smiles again — brilliant' 
The game is very drm-cult with* 
out being frustrating, the har- 
dest part Is trying to push one of 
the other bearing ■ past the 
nasty black bearings. Evan get- 
ting killed 
you're 

with a warped smile. All 
fun. 



Lied Is quite antonW* aa 
) pancaked into a little dWt 



-tJU^rtpty 



visit. Has called Ozzy P and a right 
little pam he is — not been brought 
up property* y'know how tt is, 

Ozzy, the rogue, tea led his 
cousins astray, actually to be per- 
fectly honest he's ted them into the 
Metapianes (Eeekfy. Things ware 
all going well TV good until the 
race of evil bearings awoke and 
found the invaders in their terrrtory 
They war a none too pleased about 
this, and trapped the poor irtlle 
bearings In the depths of the 
Metaptann Bobby's task H to 
find his deserted bruUi a ri and 
return them back to Techno* ear — 
one at a time. After that ha may. 



a 



w 









• 







* p 


,.» #W . p ^T'f **" 


^T^_ IKii * * 


?^ £3 


*5^s 








i^.. # lJeimiAneI ^ 4e * ^^V^ ^JMjCsm 


Hi 




1 ^VNflJcWvd 



tc 



'*f 






Bl 









I ^ 



rVk 



Bi 



TT 



Em 



-**; /* 






E 







A--: 



■ B 



Bfl 



T» 






■ ■■ 

Bf^BBB 



■ 



■ 



BBB1 






out of the kindneas o* hte hwrt, 
start searching i& Ozzy. 

The game features the Edge's 
new technique of displaying the 
ptatog area — Curvtspace 3D, 
Bobby cen roll over the uneven 
pWns just like a bell In a pinbaN 
machine The game uses flick 
screen to simulate navel from 
screen to screen, end with the 
a*tra help of the directional arrows 
iflustrsiing the possible e*ft points, 
We should not prove too difficult 
With Bobby being a bearing it is 
impossible for him to fall off one 
screen and onto another — he 
must use the correct exit pants 
However, as the landscape may 
suddenly drop vertically Bobby 
may fait and get awfully confused 
aft h*s predicament Unfortunately , 
doing this takes some of his 

■ rf* hard to believe that a game 
can create such a charismatic 
as Mr Bearing, h's 



Although it may look 
Spindiziy ft Is so much 
involved, rt just has the same 
'tone r . The graphics arm superb, 
•specialty Bobby's face whan he 
fan from a height — he ham a 
confuted Utile eitpcesmiQn on 
face and eye* wrinkle up In 
shock — cute! There is hardly 
any frustration as you can't All 
of a screen — you can only leave 
via the exit point* — rt'a ell just 
SO compulsive. As with any Edge 
product Bobby Bearing i s a very 
easy idee — superbly executed, 
and quits simply, GREAT* 



^fe^c/ 



fast diminishing time 
away. 

Poor Bobby is confronted wrth 
many a puzzle, such as magnets 
which can be switched on and off 
to activate blocks Bobby may find 
trwe are objects blocking hfcs 
path, theee cen be removed by 
passing over hidden switches 
embedded on the same screen. 
Air pipes litter the landscape and 
biow Bobby Into the air. although 

fl Spherical object type games 
seem to be all the rage nowa- 
days and after playing Bobby 
See/tog I can see why. The game 
la superbly simple in concept 
wrth greet appeal and excellent 
pleyebmty Aa you cen p t fall off a 
screen all you have to watch out 
lor is not to fall off the various 
constructions end blocks that 
squash poor Bobby Finding 
Bobby's brothers Is just a case 
of wandering about, but shunt- 
ing them around can prove 
rather taxing. A great Idea very 
welt implemented. It* s a must! 



rf)a££> 



this might not sound very heiptuL 
it can be, as they ere useful for 
crossing gaps in the scenery 
When you find one of your kin ball 
bearings, push it back to the entr- 
ance to Technofeer and safely 
home — once you've done that go 
back and get the real (there's five 
In all)- Rernember — you've only 
got until curfew time before the 
galea are ctoeed for ever, so hurry, 
and remember — don't lose your 
bearinga fhee heef>. 



A 



Uncomplicated Jnstrucnona. good on screen. 

GRAPHICS) 96% 

Superb use of 3D plains — with a cute cental character. 

SOUND 86% 

Joty tune burbles on through the game. 

PL AY ABILITY 94% 

Simple to get to grips with 

ADDICTIVE QUALITIES 93*/* 

. , . but hell to solve. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 91V. 

Tbts Is how high the standard of full price games should be 

W/o 

ay bsHbeerings to this, gel It Now. 




ifa&fes 




AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 1 39 





>RREMIEtyh 



HERE COMES TARZAN 

Ahhhh Aieeeeee Ohhh 



Wa*^ 




Crash! 




Sony, pi i m mi 



*» ten; «* c*n 

few ■* mam m 
kWCiiM 
lota tf GtartM « 




UnLE COMPUTER 

PEOPLE (With no 

mess to clear up 
afterwards) 



rotdepi of the tilm r Tirnit frum Mar- 
led! it baled around the Legend of deytfoke Hawng 
* etu rned lo the dense African jungle after a ipdl m England* 
green and plej sdin land he discovered thai Lady lane Gra^ 
tote has been tapiured by the lAtorabo, a strange African 
Iribe. They lhfe dEtn Tir/ jo with lane's sacrifice unlets hecan 
netocate the ie\ifi getmlone* stolen from The iribal shire, 
thought to beihe Eye* of the Rainbow. 

H ljii rung ilotiK 'with the greatest of ease Tar* an motf search 
every nook and i unny in th? jungle until he € an find the 
Hones, Tartan will encounter sevf^aldfflprvnj locations such 
as Caves B in which dwell potionoui vpidery Tribal llliyi 
where the head hunters llvuw *pear§ dn d the derive undergrowth is aSfve 
with lipr* and irukes The flame rtseW take> the form of a ftck screen 
arcade adventure wrth quae a tut of fighting thrown m for good measure 
Vanou* objects can be coflecled such a> ropes whn h will allow h 
iwrngover pto, j/>dtofch«wh4Ch^T vVewifl, 

a* always* be labng a critical look M Tarzan ne*t month . 

RICHARD EDGY 



Lata all 



itoi 



dofirfaMMmiM » «**• i mm 

Iti 






Kl did (rv telling yuu all last month In the news, but would 
j bel W me* Nol Then? really is, no qu ibbl ing at alt he**, 
something: .— make that someone — living m the boweb of 
mv Armirad I know he* there — he tofcf fr 

Al least that's what I think he lold me His speech uwafly 
goes something along the following lines: 
'Mteowtrwoowobbra Buhttudbgetuiedtoit .Nol 

I'm nol insane! lei me explain. 

Last year David Crane, an e*pert on persona I computer^ 
drKoveredLIt t (« Computer People 
LLP) bvlng fftude hn Commodore 64, Writ, after hjrihef 
exploration into *e science he* made a brc akth rough — 
cousins h e m Amstrads! Creal — When? do I get one? 
Wrflp them ctever chap* down at Chateau Activwon have come up with 
thr\ absolute whtii of an idea — a disk program that c team a home lor 
them on your icnjen. Voy ca/i then coa^e them oui and make rtiemdoall 
ly^sdsAyth^.TakFavhower h?ed the dog. KUelheir necks --ahhh! 
gnliant! TheyVes ihe computer eoAitvalenl pi Goidfnh and I love themf 



RICHARD IDDY 

1 40 AMTiX Christmas Special 1 986 




OLIVER 




FREY POSTERS FOR 
YOUR WALL! 



A superb serie* of Utnous cover* by 
OliveVW «n be yam in pf** «™; 

Sri^«^«*^ffi 

they each measure a g«nt »0 * 57 » 
iJrties (about eifiht maga/ir* pag« 

lube (useful for al! ^rls p* J«*f ) at J 
mere a.SOeactMp&pand VAT»ndu>; 
But,( vouorder all four then vou^- 




lr 



£2 SO 




- 



«H.r if *^ 



. 







tvl/pwaiEs OF 

THE NrCHT 

£3 W 




ALLPOSitKS 

£2.50 EACH 

(inclusive) 

OR 

ALL FOUR 
FOR ONLY 
£7,50 



OLIVER FREY POSTER OF JER 

IAJI 4 ftMtrn! |C*50> 
1 KEPLER Of MARS (£2 5D> 
12 METRO FORCE l<£2.$oi 
3REDMOON<Q.S0» 
4- ZOMBIES OFTHE NICHTfGMl 

I Name 

Address — ~ ,.__ 

_ ™oreas tam 

■ 

""""■ J ».«™ 

■j - « Ptwcode^., 

i 




CHRISTMAS STOCKING FILLERS ■ 
(THE FANCY ASSORTMENT) 



Sbl not got any ideas? Here's another nice selection *nw allow the p4ate 

Mf£ddyuke4youroCkean P Dy**fl,U£^ 

bwd #nd Palace with their ph>H*cth* Ov««n»i refeim . 



UUMTLfT. «* MHfl 

ptaqmNMlTiwylo 
nM AmM US GoU 

tr* am* m m 

NMflRli H 




You've thrown it 
down, now take 
up the challenge! 



tta Ataii coin-op clasuc n«A very Hole introduction If 
you've mftspenf , or still mtupendtng, your youth Jn the 
arcade* vou'H r*o doubt know about A « untlt t— the 
arcade machine that hat vc4d well ow %QQQ unrti Hie 
team who brought you The Eidolon one busily converting* 
aivCHjreadThKaiKtiTineafinijrfimpirfJoii 
GiunMit- the game — is bawd on the two pJayei 
verwn of ih* are ade game, whic h allows two players to play 
any of the bur t. hjr jtfen available, an arrow ducting EH. 
a spell bungling Wizard , an a*e » i*-kling Barbarian and a 
iword brandtsbrng Valkyrie 
The kfea of (he game is a simplr one— travH through ow 
a hundred drtfetenf dungeon* and collect chests of treasure. The only 
problem rf that the dungeons ate guawWbyafliomoidttbolcaJmeafliei 
wh c h grve chase as soon j* they see you Ghosts, grvnis and wi* arch 
relentlessly puisue the new* in Large numberi and rtwre are ahotobben 
which chuck rocks at the hapless adventurers 

whit l J ve seen <rf it so far ( don't think he* far wrung. 



The official Dakka dakka Boom! game 




aokto the days tfWonWarOr*^^ 

Mm 

Intha/geol apowemjl plane youmLisl take tooVairand 
manoeuvre the plane an best as you can to defeat the oncom- 
ing forte who seem intent on killing you off Doflt get me 
wrong -Ottp StrJkttisnota urmitalion If v 
moreasortohhootemupchattook^^keaurn So pull on 
the goggle*, wrap the fkittenng scarf around yon and take 
to me Mr and realise your childhood ambition [Dakka, 
dakka, boon\ neeeejeeowf] 



Se ym 



Ittti 



hni fw 



Mtt i* v «d 






hfldWMVI 




1 42 AMTIX Christmas Special 1 986 



9 




CIRCUII CLOCK 



17:46 



The game of the film 
of the Robot of the factory 





cws latest b*d to find the ultimate film tie-in ln-\ in 
Short CUClt. Vouuk* contra* orNunTbcffiw, 
4 robot from rhc- ^fovarobontv Company, One flight he wa 
hit by j Irv^k bo* of foghtnma thai charged his pkwtfeeir- 
cute and gas* hi m a warm gJowng %cnsaJ»ontnsrfehitCnjL 
To ha vwrp ns*' M- ■ kiottenJy dtxowed thai he s had hH Own 
perionaftrty. fe with any robot who has j petsorialitY he 1 * 
^.iMrnhir ..'■ ok>n|^do^hi^wjniEobeani^iwAt£h- 

ho want* to bf cak free and explore the 
world. 
TheirfFe^ivi>krjet*TenaTkfctfr^ 

Mid a status window Within the statu* 



Window n j pniil out n^.ilihi^ihoughf&diMjnodin^i When you !*kr con- 
trol d Numbet f *e you will be aWe lo link him to the factory comp ute r s 
in order to gain attntance to e*£ipe\ To make hk i-wntua I escape bom 
the factory Number Five most kx ate the correct past id lei him out 

So, he k free — or so he thinks. Once Number Five has escaped from 
the factory the sec onrl part o^ 
sequence— N umber Frwe is beir^ pursued by a l^ 
loo happy aboui hn escape. 

You can find Oifi <i Number Five will escape in lime when H * iutty 
reviewed next month, aifcematr^vt^ccHiUwaichth^^UmTA^Khrtoot 
■in the ftrsi wee4 In December 



A nice load of hype 
from PR man, 
Tim Bosher 

are^ out at Ihec harts for the la^^ 
highry successful game , M*f««n*ry* nearly com- 
pleted on ihe Affair ad — after nearty six months of work 
for thostofyou who haven t wntt trUnirynts 
other format?. , the player Lakeslhe roir of a J 1 M Century S-c>l- 
diet of fortune who has cmh landed on ihe^frie-pUnelol 

B L U — j— — —■ — — — — i ■ ■ ■ ■ fc ■ ■ ■ ■lull hm ajh „ — _■'-■.■ !-■ ■ j- >- — — ■ -. I I ;j .J I i ,rf 

urg- ne oec omes erooroned m me continuing c onixct Del- 
ween the Palm*, the once peaceful inhabitant! of Targ, 
and Ihe usurper Mtechanotds, a hH liferent net of alien 
r obot, You objec live is to escape from the ptenet a be man 
Yoiitanrvinavan^ofcranaric[r^pkireTa>r^Sinyvtefi- 
ous underground complexes and crfcHttmg Palayar Colony 

Craft; and collect usetyl obfectt to aid your quest 
iircina r y n agamethatyou wHFplav and play iaM, furious,, 

toftuom and absorbing. The speed of the graphic* h mmdboffllmg , . . 

Ama/ingJ ItSarnuslf 



KM 





So tpeaketti Mr Bosher. Thankyouwrrmiich Dm. Fine, well see how 
« match* up in the first issue mat year 



FlW4| in hl Hl A •** kufcr ^ t*rrfuJh *■« 



AMTIX ChristmasSpectal 1 986 1 43 




►BREWER 






H* AtfVt lilP*^ fcW|li4,M to UfimmL 



The official 'Dive, 
dive dive — 
Pheeeeeep! ' game 



espfee US Gold frying to turn ew^v tom-op «irt ade 
machine inro *i compuief ^jm** they've opted for 
somefhmg a brt different lor lhos« 
prefer .1 bit oi brain wort. S 1 1 • n f It rvlct 
places you in ihe role of a commander of a US Navy 
Submarine in b he South pacific <n the Second World 
War. Apart born being able to practice .it pust running 
the submarine In simple engagements, (here jr^ 
Kertaim of varying complexly v. these are seialdl 
N'fenl time- du rtngthe war, defalk vu< h a* the rnrxtfl- 
t Htion of torpedoes and rapatMJMes of both your vm- 
seUnd lhcmr.arthrrrirmv-iin i -l«kt t ii into account For 
eMmpteJhbim^ynie^nthatsocneofyouftOff^ckw^ j re duds — 
a problem thai that plagued American subs urn - * later on i n the war . 

The game i* ffrtrcnWfy flt^blt— samepaftirnifi fsifKlutkMh^ 
intelUgeTK e of the enemy desuoyers, limited s imUM* ^nd whether 
or not the *ngle-an-how need* to be inputted to dei 1 nerhedin 
fion of the torpedoes to njme but .1 lew If alkiw<i sophrslkatad 
modi (k ,it*on to any scenario. This may- not take the market by 
storm but for those n may appeal 10 rt wilf prove popular; whether 
it ft raled highly or nol yum'N find oul in ihe very near future. 




Saving The World _ 
With A Comic Book Hero 




any years ago, the world a* we know it was divided 
— Ihe people a honed fhermcfvw to either the North 
or the South sectors. For many years the opposing 
sides seriously distrusted each other — and inevitably 
talks finally broke down and war was dec fared . Both 
iac tions had developed powerful futuriuu suits of 
armour, Bui they were never used as the button was 
pressed and life on Earth all but came 10 An end. 

Centuries have passed and the world has slowly 
reborn, a new race haievofved leading a simple and 
peaceful hie. They form a new religion — based on 
ihe scrolls — blueprints of ihe original armour. Sod- 
tienly Earth is attacked by alien invaders who enslave all able- 
bodied men and send them bac k lo their planet lo mine the planet's 
valuable minerals . The alien oppressors rute their planet from deep 
irrstde a dormant volcano. 

The elders of the new Ea/th race arc getting a bit miffed with all 
their matevs being earned off, and decide lo secretly train young 
men to overthrow the tyrants . F rom a mon^st this new breed of war- 
riors, you — Tal — have been chosen to save ihe race. 

Tat is transported lo the bue of the Volcano, A hideous fares* 
lies there, infested with horrific monsters that are out to slop you 
succeeding Higher up the moutai n«ade is the ruined city. To travel 
further info the city you need to locale the sacred armour and the 
tour attachment* which operate ii- The further you travel into the 
vokano, the nearer you get to ihe vital generator room where the 
whole caboodle can be switched off — but beware of Ihe immense 
radiation thai surrounds it. 

Will Tal rind the armour/ WHrhe penetrate (he stronghold* Will 
he defy the radiation? Find out from myself and Mass in the full 
review — next murrf ! 



1 44 AMT1X Christmas Special 1 986 







tMnflMllfryit awnty m wm i ck tftht& m i Jim ^m — M 
md fimm. 11* utfeft «d f* thtm i^r mania/ 

ill 



vV I 




II v 




he latest jiame rrorn The Edtfe, Shio«Hn't 
Road marks a change for The Edge Normally 
associated wrlh such original games as Fatritghi and 
Bobb } tfea f t nif they've opted for a cotn-op c conversion 
for thetr Chrisimastreai Ihieilm ft o m d 
ft the fottow up to the smash hit Vie ^r Kung f u by 
Konami and follows the fortune* of Lee who has just 
mastered the legendary an a* Chin's 5hao-Lm Tbe 
game open* at Lee hrcds hiansetl trapped m ihe temple 
by hoards of Triad* — a nasty bunch of opponent* V 
ever he saw some*. Lkingh^kii, kin£*ldls and magical 
powers he must hghi oh the Triad* and get oaf of the 

tempk' Hsr hi' wtll [mti^.K hi <Ht,.r .Hum |n t.im tfoWTYW 

he escape if om*Ae Ie4npleh^4anm«^iittwMyuiilrwiiMdi 

freedom. 

With eac h step that Lee lakes be will encounter more and more 
Triads at the end of each stage he will I raad who is 

more skillfu I Defeating him allows Lee onto the following segm+ 
of his oriental adventure I lm kMy he's equipped with a range of 
skill* that allow* him to kwk. jump r and manoeuvre himself around 
ihx- vanous floors on each level. Killing* erta in opponent* will resuh 

I » ball hurting aero** the sc rewi — successfully Citi hmg this 
ball and he will temporarily posses* one of several manual power*. 

The actual game itself ts still under development hut in the mean 
tome here' i afcwpkcy*.n h*asi your eves on, 



Travel the road to freedom . . . 




MHB1HHH 






n | fi t o T h • I » § I • I M * * t you are 

out lo rw iiepmont-r* of war from a castle This is i he 
> • by latest new softwarr rompany, Pan- 
dora T m >\ may be a new born company but this 

■ ta Ny not going to be wet behind ih^ears 
et m a Colditz style castle and what you 
must do is to single handedFy storm the castle and lib 
e*ate eight p rfeoners from the c lute he* of the Get man 

ne man on a seemingly impossible assign - 
mem you muj* bequkri and deadly with your Irmned 

-r .1 MNerefere any supplies thai an? needed 
muslbe "rajuMioned" from the enemy First art, 
food, keys and ammunition must all be packed up as you > 

. ■ • ' ie prison. There are even some yalual*' 

that can be picked up as booty if the fancy lakes you. 
Action takes place on bur big levels thai cove* 224 screens in 
- anx>ngs0im<crttr^ 
Amsirjdast,inbeseen!r^mourscteenshol Ihete are eventoiiets 
and hand basins tu add io the realism of it alt There are just the 
other three levels to be finished now and the sound lo be added 
Into the E a q I • f Nam t should be finished 
j tan bet that well be getting our hands 
on it a* soon as irs finished 




From little fledgelings . . . 



AMTIX Christmas Special 1986 145 







i a*m and ftil ^\ 






?** 



&$f 






...*«"* M*"* 1 a**^ ., 



^■^r--^j^\^ 







«# 











*H 




RE: THE EDGE - BOBBY 
BEARING 

The Hulls ne Crrw usually dofi'l hive id travel 
fax to tuiJ tmcreatum phone calls. Cbern 
Latigdell. of The Edge rang che office and was, 
er, ihartcfing eu suinrofie who minded terribly 
hke qui very Software Ed (dy), 

'HrIL> — <:tw. , . » 
■ ' Yeah - HilithatRJcbtrf ?" 

" MermfinewnndcrtLilOhohiErcatevTr 
thing 'ttupeK irca E letme I dlyouahou M fe^wj lBoi> 
hv Beinngahhh Ytiugof 1 heparkage V " 

7. 

1 ' ViKididG rcat S u per 
For anurtiitc Id jdn 'if kink y" would V 'kemwh 
o wdiflk ult iti* D" vouha vcp mblermroo? 1 " 

" Lemmefdlyouaboux- 
ihegantc , LYiiifrand wonderful Yougorihn 
en i e 1 1 e I lewd I at i u*l I y he 'm|uj I tbigbaJlandyifOC- 
Cajnancov E?rE\EmirciiindihemelapJanrKaoei- 
wliii hirer call vjum vand horridH avcvmirfeid- 
thepktf" 

"V " 

' Y< rtiiiid HimiHipcnh' 

hh mJllooMhopeitgei u^RMshor 

*ccoladeorartVBOfirtmcvtTytxifumi y pcop teca i- 
litwluniit?" 

"A . - ■ 

" ' YeahoJcuurvebowttnild t forget AccoladcC* 
real Super Ahhiiandwaiuki Oh kltKldlldhflkjtil 
Ihinkjihflcjdhtir " 

.Mn UmfdtU uAmmtan 
Mrt Lmgdtll u 21 md a bit 



A46 




taW 18 * 



Special 



RE: EUROMAX 

JOYSTICKS 

!!Jr™* *•**' ''« pu« invented" 
,\uptr— tLJuit uu>" 

Y«, I ihoujfhi I'd go for ibe chic tnk tan, 



Jerrii u 102. 




"Gnai! Wauir called ?'" 
" A>, </hwio wi. " 

Okay, f If ,h(,riMl « (n the iMiih The 



A* 



!** 






£3& 
















9^ 






> 



^ 





s»*»*^ 






1 99 1 : The year of af I dangers, 
motorways have become bloody 
battle fields, full of looters of all 
kinds. Your mission Is to drive 
an artlc-lorry changed Into a 
tank and to carry your cargo 
Into safety. 



When there Is no space left In 
hell, the dead are coming back 
to earth... Your last possible 
Issue Js : a supermarket where 
you get down, body and soul, 
piloted by an ICON. 




I . Vow F#kx Eboue 

94000 Cifteil France 

TEL. 0.1033.43.39.23.21 









fc^ 


Sfc&^«?^^" 






ii ■ 


MB J 




HAVE YOU GOT 

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A 




Top Gun puts you in ihe fighter pilots scat 
of an F- 1 4 Tomcat* 

Vector graphics and a split screen allow I or 7 
players to play head to head, or against the computer, 



v 



Your armaments in this nerve tingling aerial duel 
are heat seeking missiles and a 20mm rapid fire cannon 
Can you feel the force! 
Top Gun mavencks! Enter the danger zone. 



£7.95 

SPECTRUM 




£8.95 

AM STRA D , COMMODORE 



Ocean Software Ltd .6 Central Street, Manchester M2 SNS Telephone: 061-832 6633Tclex; 669977 OCEAN G 



Uii,.V^„,;i,.i.V,.'.i. i .mr ( tin.- -r.j.1,,,. >. 4 U 



»Tb T lL^Kf 1. b frfrW JM)i '«>« 



fH A I LMB Paramount Pictimi Curtoration. All Riirhii Reserve-!, n-i. i ttwteiuffc of PurAinounl Picftni CtiraormflDR,